From Far, Far Away
by ChocolateBunnyChan
Summary: One day Kagome Higurashi was unexpectedly plunged into a strange world of monsters and ninja. According to an ancient prophecy she has been sent to this world as the Awakening. Destened to awaken the strongest of all the demons: the Sky Demon. Sasuke/Kag
1. Chapter 1

After lurking on for years, I've finally decided to write my own story!

This is going to be an Inu-Yasha/Naruto crossover. It will be a Sasuke/Kagome fic.

It will follow the basic plot of the shojo manga 'From Far Far Away' By Kyoko Hikawa. It's kind of inevitable that I will have to use the same or modify some of the speech from the actual manga!

But since I have not read the entire series I'm gonna have to make up my own ending and stuff….

** Forget all you know, or think you know (a quote from the movie **_**Willow**_**) about Inu-Yasha- because the Feudal era never happened in this story!**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters from Naruto or Inu-Yasha nor do I own the basic plot from 'From Far Far Away' by Kyoko Hikawa

*means voice-over (they did this in the manga a bit so I'm gonna follow the books for a bit)

"~word word word~" means the Ninja world language

" word word" Kagome's native language. A.K.A Japanese

' word' means thoughts

**Chapter 1: A Strange New World**

"I had that dream again last night." A pretty 15 year-old girl with long black tresses told her three friends as they ate their lunches in their classroom.

"The one about that mysterious world, Kagome?" the girl with medium length hair, Eri asked between bites of her bento.

"Yeah." Kagome replied as she moved her food around with her chopsticks.

"Where a strange and beautiful bird flies in the sky?" Yuka (the short haired one) asked before taking a large bite of her triangle cut turkey sandwich.

Nodding her head Kagome responded, "Yeah." She took a bite of her food.

"A strange and beautiful view?" her third friend Ayumi asked. The girl pushed her wavy hair behind her ear as she sipped on a juice box.

Sighing, Kagome nodded her head once more as she said, "Yeah."

She grinned nervously at her friends. "Do you think I could have lived in that world… in a previous life or something?"

*I've been having the same dream over and over lately.*

"This afternoon a suspected terrorist was arrested." The news reporter announced urgently during a special breaking-news report.

"It was revealed that he had planted several bombs around the city." "Police are now trying to identify the locations. If you notice any suspicious paper bags, please exercise caution."

"How scary!" muttered the manager of an electronics store as she watched the urgent report.

A group of four first-year high school girls walked past the electronics store, too caught up in their own conversation to notice the special news report playing on the many TV screens displayed in the stores front window.

Swinging her small yellow backpack over one of her shoulders, Kagome gave a cheerful grin to her friends who were walking slightly ahead of her.

"Hey, ever hear about parallel universes?"

Yuka turned around so that she was facing Kagome, "No. What's that?"

Lifting up a finger in an informative gesture Kagome explained, "Well, according to some theories, there are other universes besides our own!"

Looking slightly awed Yuka replied, "Really?" Ayumi placed a hand on Yuka's shoulder, "You know her dad was a science fiction writer and that her grampa's always going on and on about all those ancient legends, right?" Eri cut into the conversation giggling a bit, " So Kagome has this great imagination!"

Frowning slightly Yuka stated, "Hey, if those theories are correct… Kagome's moving to her dream world to become a warrior!"

Laughing Ayumi said, "Cool! Like that warrior movie we saw last week!"

"Kagome, a warrior? Give me a break. She's too spaced out." Eri snorted.

"That's mean. I would just say she's a bit dreamy." Smiled Yuka.

"I'd say she's a total space cadet!" jeered Ayumi.

"Or maybe that she's missing a few screws." Quipped Eri, "Plus, she has no supernatural powers like Superman or anything. She's just an ordinary, un-athletic, high school girl. Maybe she could be the sidekick, like Robin!"

Standing to the side Kagome sighed. 'Gee thanks guys! Say whatever you want- it's not like I'm standing right in front of you or anything!!!' She groaned in annoyance as she kept on walking.

The group of girls had just finished the long trek up the Higurashi Shrine steps that led to the top of the shrine where Kagome and her family lived.

Kagome's younger brother Sota was already home playing with a soccer ball. The boy kicked the ball harder than he had planned, sending the ball bouncing away. Noticing his big sister and her friends he called out, "Kagome! My ball!"

Turning Kagome saw the ball bouncing towards them. "Okay, okay! I'll get it for you Sota!" Walking towards the ball Kagome crouched down ready to intercept the wayward ball. However before she had the chance to grab the ball, it collided with a fairly large stone. She couldn't recall the stone ever being there before though. But she didn't have to time to think about that now because the ball was currently going off in a different direction. "Ack! No! Get back here!"

"What are you doing? You kicked the ball away! What a klutz!" Shouted Eri. Ayumi laughed, "How far are you planning on going?"

"It's not me!" Kagome defended herself. "The ball hit that stone over there and bounced away!" as she pointed to where the offending stone was. Gritting her teeth she jogged after the ball.

"A stone?" asked Yuka as the remaining members of the group plus Sota slowly made their way over to where Kagome had pointed. All four people looked down as Sota asked, "Where?" The stone was no longer there.

The soccer ball ended it's plight as it tapped a bag next to a sign that read "Bone Eaters Well Legend:…" Her shoes skidded lightly as she came to a halt in front of her family shrine's well house. "Well at least it didn't get into the well house." Kagome muttered to herself. She eyed the well house door, which was opened up just enough to let a small object, like a ball through. "Ugh… it's soo creepy down there! Not to mention dir- huh?" She stopped her rant as she noticed what had stopped the soccer ball. It was a paper bag leaning up against the front door of the well house. Closer examination revealed that the bag was similar to the types that one would receive a birthday gift in or perhaps receive at a department store with a large purchase. Staring at the strange bag and its cloth handles Kagome quietly voiced her thoughts. "Why is this paper bag here?"

What Kagome Higurashi didn't know was that earlier that day a deranged terrorist disguised as a tourist had set one of his many bomb bags next to the well house. He would have placed it closer to the main parts of the shrine had it not been for the old shrine man who was pestering him with some legend or another. He didn't want to hang around for too long, lest the old man start to catch on to his plan. The terrorist was sure that once the world heard about a bomb that went off in a popular Japanese shrine, his small terrorist organization would receive the recognition it deserved.

However Kagome wasn't aware of any crazy terrorist's plot in grabbing the world's attention- nor did she care. Because in that moment she was caught in a fiery explosion. The tremendous force of the blast threw the stunned blue-eyed girl backwards through the open slit of the well house door. Gravity soon took its role, sending the shrieking girl down into the abyss of an old-dried-up well. Not even a second later a second shock wave from the bomb obliterated the ancient structure sending debris of stone and wood flying. Sota and Kagome's friends could only scream in horror as well house was blown up...

~/_~/_~/_~

Blinking Kagome looked around in a semi-state of shock.

'Where am I?' All she could see before her was a vast and endless stretch of darkness. A darkness that seemed to emit a psychedelic purple glow that rippled as she continued to stare at it.

Trying desperately to move any limb of her body, Kagome found that her body was seemingly paralyzed. Was she dead? Her mind reeled as it tried to interpret the bizarre sensations of whatever it was she was falling in battered her body in waves. It felt as though she were somehow falling upward, sideways, and spinning all at once yet she didn't seem to be moving.

Briefly she wondered if this was anything like what astronauts felt when they were in space. Although she wasn't feeling weightless like you should in zero gravity. She battled the feelings of panic-induced nausea down. A faint though entered her mind, where were her friends? Where did they go? Her thoughts seemed to echo in the endless abyss.

Letting out and inaudible gasp Kagome watched as a patch of the purple-darkness began to swirl besides her. An image materialized in the swirl, rippling like water.

Staring into the newly formed image Kagome was vaguely reminded of a TV.

In the strange window-portal-thing Kagome could see her mother. The poor woman looked distraught with tearstains marring her cheeks and her hair tumbling out of its normal neck-bun. The woman was currently shrieking in horror as she fought against two firemen. The firemen were attempting to calm the frenzied mother and trying to keep the woman from the smoldering rubble remains that had once been the well house.  
Her Grampa was weeping in front of one of the shrine's altars cursing the Gods for taking away his precious granddaughter from him.  
Her little brother Sota was standing a little ways off behind her mother. He was standing there, unmoving. He paid no heed of the commotion happening around him, merely standing and looking off into nothingness while fat tears made their way down his cheeks.

The image shifted its focus to her friends. The three girls were crowded around a police officer behind the 'do not cross' yellow police tape. Ayumi spoke in a detached voice that hinted at her current mental state. "Excuse me, Officer? … Is it true you couldn't find Kagome's body? What about pieces of her?"

Yuka gave Ayumi a reproachful glance, "Hey! That's disgusting! How can you say something like that?"

Kagome tried to speak, hoping that somehow they could hear her, "Hey! Don't you hear me?"  
The image began to fade and become smaller. Was it shrinking or was she moving away? Kagome couldn't tell. Attempting one last time to somehow grab her friends' attention before she drifted completely away to _wherever _this thing was she yelled as loud as she could, "Hey!"  
The sound was only swallowed in the unending darkness becoming twisted and distorted as it traveled.

~/_~/_~/

It had been a while since the image had disappeared. She wasn't sure exactly how much time had passed it could have been minutes, hours, or days.  
She couldn't be sure time even passed in this bizarre place. Was this some twisted fate she was resigned too? To drift endlessly in this place, unable to move? Trapped alone in darkness with only her thoughts to keep her company? Would she go insane? Kagome felt her heart rate speed up at the thought of being trapped here, helpless forever. No! She didn't want to be stuck in this Hell! Unknown to the girl she had begun glowing a soft pink light.

'It's warm' she registered vaguely. She couldn't remember if there had been a temperature before she had felt this warmth… Her mind was still hazed in shock.

She felt something incredibly soft beneath her right hand. She hesitantly tried to move her fingers, recalling her previously paralyzed state. Slowly her fingers began to twitch. Soon enough Kagome found that she could ball her hand into a fist. Relishing the feeling of being able to move some of her muscles she tried to grab a handful of whatever was beneath her. She attentively roamed the unfamiliar texture with her fingers as her mind tried to come up with some sort of plausible explanation for what it was she was feeling.

'It's so soft and fluffy… Oh!... I get it!' Kagome's mind came to a conclusion, 'I'm dreaming. I'm sleeping on my soft down comforter right now.' Closing her eyes she nuzzled her face into the softness of her 'comforter'. She didn't realize that whatever had kept her body paralyzed before no longer seemed to affect her. 'I see this is a dream…'

Images began to play within her mind's eye. The first was of three men **(AN: if you didn't see this at the beginning of the chapter "~word~" means the language spoken in the shinobi world!) **Dressed in dessert climate clothing. "~Look at the water!~" "~The water has turned…~" "~Blood red.~" finished an old woman who was standing in front of the men. A fishing pole resting in her withered old hands, "~It's the Awakening!~"

The scene changed showing a close-up of a grotesque elderly woman wearing an eye-patch over her right eye. "~It's a sign that the Awakening has come to our world!~" 'Omigod! What a scary face that old lady has!' thought Kagome.

More scenes flashed before her: an elderly man standing before a giant metal tub that had a huge crack in it. "~My fortune-telling bowl is cracked!!~" he lamented, gaining odd stares from several people around him.

A blue haired woman wearing a white flower in her hair stood before a man sitting in a throne like chair. The man's features were concealed by shadows. The woman stated, "~ The Awakening has emerged.~"

'What? Who are these people? I wonder what they're saying…'

The images shifted faster now displaying important looking men. "~We must find the Awakening! Use your fortune-telling abilities to find it!~"

The imaged changed, displaying another official man. The man stood before a group of oddly dressed people who looked like they were wearing some sort of militaristic uniforms. Pumping his fist in the air, the man shouted, "~We must get it before the other countries do!~" The man continued his rallying speech, "~We will be masters of the world!~" His speech done, the man waved his arm off in some sort of signal (AN: No, it's NOT the Nazi salute-thingy…that's what my brother thought, but it's not!) The large assembly in front of the man nodded as they seemingly vanished in blurs or puffs of smoke.

"How weird. Everyone's so serious." Said Kagome as the images started to dull, "Anyways, what a cool science fiction movie this dream is!"

Unknown to the dreaming young woman, she was no longer in the dark abyss. Instead she was currently falling through a crisp blue sky.  
If anyone had seen her, they would have likened her to an ethereal angel falling from the heavens the way her hair and school uniform moved in the wind. She was falling headfirst towards a very large forest. The forest was isolated from civilization by a ring of mountains. The term 'mountains' was a bit too light to describe the harsh rocky terrain. They were more like an unbelievable riddle of sheer cliffs, rugged drop offs, and frighteningly high cliffs. Even the world's most prestigious mountain climbers would be hard-pressed to trek through the nearly suicidal mountain passes.

A young man stood on a ledge of one of these high cliffs. His dark hair ruffled slightly in the icy mountain breeze as he surveyed the forest beneath him with dark eyes. Slowly a smirk spread across the boy's face. So, it had begun…

**(I was going to stop there, but I think I'll go on a bit more, at least until I have you more into the story!)**

Instead of crashing into the trees and dieing on impact, the gravity around the unconscious girl seemed to lift. The slowed gravity maneuvered the girl so that she was on her side before gently placing her on the ground.

The sounds of the forest slowly brought Kagome back to the land of the living. Some unrecognizable animal barked/brayed in the distance. She could hear the sounds of birds trilling out unfamiliar calls. She slowly opened her eyes with a soft groan. Her head hurt. She stared dazedly at her surroundings for a moment. A confused expression crossed her face as she began to sit up.

As the last vestiges of sleep left her, Kagome's heart nearly leapt out of her chest as she did a violent double take of her surroundings. Resting on her knees in a rather proper position, the girl brought a trembling hand to her other arm giving it a sharp pinch. All she could think was, '….OWW!.....'

She placed a hand on the ground to support herself as she hunched over beginning to hyperventilate. Something on the ground distracted her from her hyperventilation though. Looking at the ground, Kagome swept her hand around. Whatever was covering the damp dirt sure was soft. Glancing at the ground around her, she saw that she was currently sitting in a large patch of what appeared to be golden-colored moss. Carefully plucking a strand of it, she held it up. It glittered naturally in the small patches of sunlight that slivered through the trees. 'How beautiful! I wonder what it's called?'

Dropping the piece of moss Kagome shook her head slightly. She had more important things to be doing than looking at golden moss, even if it was pretty. Like figuring out where the heck she was. Her determination back, she stumbled to her feet. She was slightly off-balance. Once she steadied herself she observed her surroundings in more detail hoping to find some clue to where she was. Frowning slightly, she couldn't make heads or tails of where she was! 'I've never seen a place…like this before.' Looking up Kagome saw that she was beneath an enormous tree. It's long gnarled roots encaging her and the bed of moss.

Her eyes widened in amazement, 'It looks like one of those trees you find in swamps! What were those called? Oh! Cypress trees! That's what it looks like-a Cypress tree!' she grinned at being able to recognize the name of the tree. Her happiness was short lived however as a doubtful look overtook her face, 'But if it is a Cypress tree…where's the water?' She was pretty sure that cypress trees needed lots of water and the moss didn't strike her as a particularly aquatic-faring plant. She tentatively took a few quick steps around, checking to see if the ground was indeed solid ground. It was fine, a little damp in some spots, but it was really quite solid. How strange…

She made her way over to one of the large roots. She gave a tiny smile- she figured that she wouldn't be able to touch her hands together on the other side of the wide root if she hugged it. Touching the pale wood she found that it felt incredibly smooth and cool beneath her touch. Resting a hand on the wood she wondered, 'Is there even a place like this in Japan?' She quickly made her way back to where she had woken up. Her yellow backpack was lying there. How had she missed it before? She gave the bag a quick squeeze, glad to see_ something_ that was familiar. Something…familiar…Her head shot up as the gravity of the situation hit her. Where was she? Why was she here?

Her stomach dropped in dread as the girl realized just how alone she really was.

~/~/~/~/~/

The young man from earlier was currently perched in a thick patch of tree branches. He watched the strange young woman as she put her strange pack on her back before timidly stepping beyond the protection of the cypress-like tree's roots. He eyed her strange clothing. An indecently short green skirt that showed her thin legs. A semi-wide white top complete with green bands that brought the white sleeves to a narrow end at her wrist and a strangely shaped green collar around her shoulders and chest. A red cloth was fastened into a knot just below the end of the green triangle in the front. He vaguely wondered if her clothing was an indicator of her station in life, either wealth or job-wise. An unreadable expression flickered across his face.

~/_~/_~/_~/

She brought her arms to her chest in a defensive and frightened manner. She began to call out to her friends, feverishly hoping they were somewhere nearby, "Eri?" She waited a moment for an answer before trying again. "Ayumi?" There was no reply. "C'mon Yuka, this isn't funny! Where are you guys?!"

The only answer she received was the various chirps and sounds of birds, insects, and animals in the forest.

Her anxiety increased ten-fold. "M…MAMA!" she wailed desperately. "SOTA!" She didn't want to be alone! She was scared! "GRAMPA!" Her breathing became sporadic as tears began to well up in her eyes. NO! She didn't want to be alone! No, please!

~/_~/_~/_~/

From his hiding spot, the boy continued to observe Kagome. Staring intently at her as if he were trying to come to some sort of decision.

~/_~/_~/_

High above the Sea of Trees (that's what it is called officially in the mangs), six men dressed in combat clothes rode on the backs of giant eagles (they are summoned eagles).

~/_~/_~/_

Leaning an arm against a nearby tree Kagome breathed in and out slowly, calming herself down. It wouldn't do her any good to flip out now. 'Calm…. Calm down girl and pull yourself together! Ok… let's try to piece together what exactly has happened. One thing at a time. Baby steps.' She closed her eyes and searched her mind for a few moments. She opened her sapphire eyes, 'That's right--- Sota's ball! On my way home from school I was chatting with my friends and his ball came bouncing towards us. Ok, good. What happened next?' Her lips pursed together as she ran her free hand through her long hair in a nervous gesture. 'Oh! That weird paper bag by the old well house.' Her hand stopped running through her hair as she brought an index finger to her forehead. 'Dreams…Then I had some weird dreams… What dreams? … … I don't remember…'

Strange noises drew Kagome out of her deep contemplations. "W-what?" Several strange animals leapt from the shrubbery and tree branches behind her. The animals had a few characteristics of animals that Kagome was familiar with; she mentally noted there were several different types of animals running in this little stampede. One type looked similar to a lemur with a feline-ish shaped head, but its overall appearance was more graceful and cat-like than monkey-like to her. Another animal resembled a wide-eared giant hamster with a platypus-like flat tail. It was a little larger than her shoes and ankle. She turned her head dazedly following the mini stampede as the strange creatures scrambled past her legs. She watched as one of the cat-lemur animals landed on the ground from a branch. It was a couple of feet away from her.

She absently wondered why were they running?

The answer to her question came from above. Literally. It came dropping out of the thick canopy overhead. The thing slammed down upon the small cat-lemur that had just landed moments before. The poor creature gave a distressed shriek as the creature began devouring it alive.

"What the heck is that THING?!" Kagome yelped as she looked at the thing.  
It looked like a gargantuan leech that had thorn-like nubs sticking out all around its body. The thorn things appeared somewhat fleshy she decided as she mutely stared at it. The largest concentration of the appendages surrounded what she supposed was the creature's head, as it was still devouring the cat-lemur from that end. It was also randomly covered in what seemed to be eyespots that were white with a violet-red spot in the center of each one. The flesh of the monster's body had a tough, leathery looking texture and it was a grass-green color. The thorny nubs were a paler shade of yellow-green while the mane of thorns surrounding its head/mouth were a peachy color.

Overall it looked like a giant, disgusting, and very poor, perverse imitation of a flower Kagome decided.

The filthy monster had finished its meal of the cat-lemur, leaving only a pool of blood behind. Sensing another possible meal nearby, the thing reared its body up like a cobra, poised to strike. The monster easily towered a good three or more feet above Kagome.

_Crap!_ It noticed her. "Hey! Go away! I don't like you!" Kagome stated semi-loudly, hoping it would go away.

Her voice didn't seem to have any affect on the creature. It looked perfectly content to stay where it was. She could only watch as the monster began to shake out its thorny mane, opening and closing its circular-leech like mouth in small undulating clicks. She could clearly see several layers of razor sharp teeth in its mouth.

Her legs were now shaking in fear. 'I can't move! My legs!' was the last think Kagome could think as she stared wide-eyed as the thing lunged foreword, surprisingly fast in spite of its cumbersome size, mouth wide open.

What took place next happened so quickly Kagome's shocked mind could barely process it.  
Like magic, someone had appeared in front of her, blocking her view from the monster with his or her chest and shoulder. The person grabbed her roughly, snaking an arm around her upper body. All Kagome could see was a blur of color as the stranger did a gravity defying leap, landing away from the monster. The stranger whom she could now tell was wearing a robe-like long sleeved white shirt, roughly shoved Kagome backwards. She hit a tree with a dull thump.

When the newcomer had moved the creature's prey it had smacked the ground, face/mouth first with a wet splat. Lifting its head/mouth up a green, sticky substance began to dribble past its front most teeth, dripping towards the forest floor. Clicking its teeth angrily with a guttural gurgling sound, it started charging towards Kagome once more.

Kagome's rescuer unsheathed a sword stepping into the things path once more. He skillfully brought his blade down, cleanly slicing the monster's head off.

Startled, Kagome flinched backwards. Forgetting that she was already tightly backed up against a tree, she promptly hit the back of her head. Hard. Some of the uneven juts of bark dug into her back, stabbing and grazing her skin through her school uniform top. She winced as the pain slowly registered through the adrenaline and shock. She didn't think she was bleeding, a little scratched up judging from the stinging sensation that was spreading across her back, but not bleeding a large amount. She gave a glance to the side as she ran a hand through her hair inspecting the growing bump, making sure it wasn't bleeding either. Her breath caught in her throat as she eyed the creature's head. It had landed very close to her. If she had reached out a foot she would have been able to nudge the thing. She slowly brought her hand away from the back of her head as she continued to stare at the disembodied head. The green substance that had been dripping from its mouth earlier was now sluggishly flowing from the area the sword had sliced it from.

The head gave a few minute twitches.

"Ugh…EEEEKKK!!" Kagome screeched as she bolted away from the offending, fallen appendage. All of the fear, anxiety, and confusion suddenly became too much for the poor girl to handle. All she could do was latch onto her rescuer, grabbing onto him in a bear hug as she buried her face into his chest as she continued screaming.  
'No! NO! It's gross! It's GROSS!! I'm scared! I'm scared! I'm SCARED!' she repeated over and over again in her mind in a panicked mantra.

After a few moments her terrified screams died down. She continued to hold onto the person like a lifeline, which in a way they were. Feeling emotionally drained, Kagome let her mind shut of into an autopilot mode. She felt her breath evening out as her body began to stop shaking like a leaf. Her ability to think slowly returned to her as she listened to the soothing lub-dub rhythm of her rescuer's heartbeat. She gave out a deep sigh. 'Um… I think I'm calming down…' She thought in a relaxed manner.

'I'm so glad I ran into another person!' She continued to listen to the rhythmic beating. A sudden jolt of realization rushed through her.

'By the way… Who is this?!' A small chocking noise left her mouth.  
'Gahh!! I shouldn't be doing this. I'm holding onto a complete stranger!' With that she quickly retracted her arms and shuffled back a step. She glanced up nervously to look at her savior with a sheepish look on her face.

He merely stared back at her with steely black eyes; a tiny nearly unnoticeable sneer was plastered on his face. Narrowing his eyes the boy shoved her another step back as he turned away from her. He sheathed his sword in a scathing manner. He began to step away.

"Excuse me… um" Kagome began rather weakly. 'I wonder if he's angry.' She didn't want the only other person she had met to leave her there.

"I'm sorry, but I….uh….didn't know where I was and got confused." Kagome began to ramble as she tried to explain herself to him, "Then that weird monster showed up and…. Ah! By the way, thank you very much for helping me. I was just so happy to see another person that I sort of held onto you. So please don't get mad at me. Okay? ... Okay?" She said as she waited for him to answer her.

The boy merely turned to face her and said in a semi-deep voice, "~ I don't understand the language you are speaking.~" as he lifted up his bag that he had dropped during the fight. He placed the drawstring bag over his left shoulder, keeping his left hand on the strap.

_End of the first chapter._

**Phew! Finally the first chapter is done. I hope you enjoyed reading this and I hope you tune in for the next chapter. I'm gonna try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible. Please review and tell me what you think. Also can you guess some of the people from Kagome's dream? (some of them are not really anyone, but some will be seen again!)**

**Next time on **_**Far, Far Away**_**: (sorry no scenes yet, just clues)**

**Kagome: Well, I'm still totally confused. But at least I'm not alone anymore… It stinks that we don't understand one another, but I guess it could be worse! I just hope I can find out his name at least! Maybe he'll help me find a way home! **

**(She stares into the distance) Hey, is that man all right over there? (Grabs her rescuers arm, tugging on his sleeve, pointing to the injured man in the distance) He looks like he's hurt! We should help him!**

** Next time on **_**From Far, Far Away**_**: Escape from the Sea of Trees and the Bandits! **


	2. The Underground cavern

Okay, before I start Ch. 2 a few things:

The land of the Waves arc NEVER happened in the genin years in my story!

As to when this is taking place, I'm gonna say a month or so before the start of Naruto Shippuden. I've not really decided.

Some of the Inu-Yasha characters will be appearing but not as they are the InuYasha series like I said in the first chapter, forget all you know about the InuYasha world for the most part. We will see some InuYasha characters because I don't want to waste my time thinking up OCs.

**Important:** Let's pretend that in this story Kagome's world (our Earth's Japan) and the Naruto world are two very different worlds. Pretend that the languages, culture, clothing, and written language are two very different things!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Inu-Yasha, Naruto, or the basic plot to the manga _From Far, Far Away_.

**Chapter 2: The Underground Cavern**

He didn't speak Japanese. Well, she figured he wouldn't judging from his looks and clothes.

He approached her with her yellow backpack in one hand.

Blinking, she stared at her bag in confusion. When had she lost it?

"~What a nuisance.~" The boy muttered in an annoyed voice.

She tilted her head confused. "Huh?" What did he say?

The boy pushed the bag into her chest roughly as he glared at her, "~This isn't what I had planned.~" The black haired girl merely stared at him completely puzzled. He snapped his head up as he caught the sound of tree branches being snapped.

~/_~/_~/_~/

"~We can't land here. Branches can't support the weight of an eagle and shinobi!~" One of the ninja informed his team members as he lead his eagle back up into the sky with his reigns. His eagle turned its head back to give him a disgruntled squawk as it shook one of its legs trying to free itself from one of the broken branches.

"~But, Sir!~" a younger ninja began, "~That Awakening we are trying to catch… Is at the Golden Nest beneath these trees!~"

~/_~/_~/_~

The dark haired boy scowled. They were already after them?

They needed to leave or at least hide.

Grabbing a hold of the girl's sleeved arm he began to pull her with him.

"~Quick! This way!~" he ordered her.

The girl just gave him a confused look before asking, "Huh?" He mentally sighed. This was going to be a long day…

/_~/_~/_~/_~

"~Maybe we can park near that rocky stretch over there and jump through the Sea of Trees.~" the younger shinobi suggested to his superior.

"~Don't be stupid, boy! The Sea of Trees is were the nest of those Flower Insects is. How will we avoid running into them?~" The man snarled at his subordinates' daftness. The shinobi muttered angrily to himself as he continued to try to free his eagle's caught leg from the branch. The stupid bird had gotten itself stuck good!

He smacked the eagle's head suddenly. "~_Hey!_ Don't you try to bite me you s_tupid overgrown turkey_! Now pipe _down_ before I cut your leg off!~"

He held it's giant beak shut, eyeing where the bird had nipped him on the arm. He could have sworn the dumb thing was mocking him!

He turned his head back to his subordinate deciding to take his anger out on the boy, "~Even if we were able to kill one…~" he held the bird's beak shut once more.

He had caught the stupid thing before it got the chance to bite him again.  
He continued, "~The smell of its blood would bring more of the insects!~"

~/_~/_~/_

Rustling sounds began to surround the two dark haired teenagers. The boy narrowed his eyes as he gave the girl a quick yank. The action only gave him the opposite reaction that he would have liked. Instead of moving faster to keep up with his brisk pace, the girl cried out as she nearly tripped.

"~Run!~" he commanded the girl as his free hand grabbed several kunai from his thigh holster. Hopefully he wouldn't need to use any chakra. He didn't want those shinobi to know where they were.

/_~/_~/_~

The older shinobi continued his rant at his subordinate while trying to free his stupid bird from the accursed branch. Nearly snarling now, "~Do you think we'd stand a chance in hell of surviving if dozens of those Flower Insects were chasing us? Well, do you?~"

The younger shinobi quickly shook his head, he was more afraid of his captain's temper at the moment. And he knew from previous experience that disagreeing with the captain when he was angry was hazardous to his own health.

The captain was too engrossed with the thought of strangling his eagle's head to notice the boy's reaction. If it bit him one. more. time…

Seeing that the bird didn't look like it was going to move its head he continued once again, "~ Not even chakra enhanced weapons can slice through those thing's thick skin!

ARGGG!!! That's IT you STUPID BIRD!!!~"

The other squad members quickly moved to keep their captain from strangling the eagle.

_/~_/~_/~

"Hey! What's happening? What's that sound?" Kagome asked her rescuer as he pulled out a few strange metal knives with one hand. She paled a bit as she looked at the knives. He wasn't going to use those on her was he? "Umm…Hey, uh, what's with the knives?"

Several Flower Insects emerged from the canopy. The boy nearly dislocated her arm as he took off running. Man, he was fast! She could hardly keep up as he dragged her along. "Hey! My arm! You- " Her shout was cut off as he threw the strange knives. They pierced three of the monsters deeply.

He heard the girl squeak as he threw his knives. He mentally scoffed; did she think he would use the kunai on her?

Turning his attention back to the injured Flower insects he carefully watched. Maybe he had bought them some time.

Soon enough more of the insects appeared, drawn by the scent of their wounded comrades. The flower insects began to viciously attack and devour the injured ones.

Good they were distracted, now was the time to run.

He tugged on the girl's sleeve as he started running once again. She was so slow! He had never been so slow, even as a young student in the academy! Gnashing his teeth together in frustration, he unsheathed his sword once again as he spotted more of the creatures ahead of them. He lashed out, slicing through one of the insects that came too close.

Pivoting on the balls of his feet he felt the girl solidly collide with his chest as he swung his sword through an insect that had been directly behind them.

Panting slightly he watched as five more dropped from the canopy. It seemed he had no choice…

Drawing her head back from his chest, Kagome rubbed her nose. That had hurt!

'What kind of place is this!?' Kagome screamed in her mind. The dark haired boy bent down suddenly. 'Huh? What's he d-' "EEEPP! Hey! Please put me down!"

How dare he? He just slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes! Sure, there were disgusting monsters all around them- but that didn't give him the right to touch her like this!

Opening her mouth to shout at him she stopped immediately as the boy began to move.

'He's flying?! Carrying me?' Kagome gasped as he flew through the air.

No, he wasn't flying she realized as they began to fall back down to the ground. He was jumping!

He landed lightly on his feet and took off running.

Hoisting her neck upwards so that she could see ahead of her, (behind him) she waited a moment so that her head could adjust the image that was jostled violently by the movement of his running. She let out an awed gasp as she gained her bearings; he had just jumped clear over all of those things! Each one had to be at least 7 feet tall, yet he had leapt over them like they were nothing! All while carrying her!

He smirked as he felt her gasp. Did she think that he had done something amazing? Something as elementary as jumping? Sure he had not used any chakra like most ninja would have needed too in order to leap such a height. He wondered if the girl knew that he had not used chakra- but then again judging from her earlier behavior, he doubted that she even knew what chakra was.

How was he so fast? She was sure that he was currently traveling much faster than any Olympic runner ever had!

"Ahh! Behind you!" She yelped as a flower insect burst from the bushes behind them to their left (He's carrying her so that she's facing forward from his back, thus seeing behind him.)

The girl yelped something to him in that strange tongue of hers. He ignored her panicked cries. He could already sense the one right behind them.

Taking a deep breath he kicked off hard from the ground, leaping off of a rocky ledge. Looking down slightly so that he could calculate his next movements, he peered into the underground cave below them.

"Omigod! We're gonna fall!!" he grimaced as the girl caterwauled into his ear. He wished she would stop screaming he needed to concentrate!

He slid her off of his shoulder, repositioning the girl so that he could hold her bridal style. That was the best way to hold her so that he wouldn't loose his balance when he landed. He took care to make sure his blade in his right hand didn't nick her.

He landed harshly on his feet. He grit his teeth slightly as the sound echoed in the underground cavern. He was not used to falling such a distance without the use of his chakra.

Nor was he used to carrying another person. It wasn't so much that the weight, no-the girl was light, approximately 101 pounds if he had to guess.

It was just awkward to carry another human.

He waited a few moments for the tingling sensation in his legs to subside before moving.

The Flower Insect that had fallen over the ledge while chasing them began to move sluggishly. Kagome watched it from over her shoulder as it began to shudder violently before it quite literally dropped dead.

"Ok…What just happened?" Kagome asked as she raised an eyebrow at the now apparently dead monster.

He turned to look where she was facing before kneeling so that he could place her on the ground. He guessed that she was probably asking why the Flower Insect had perished.

"~They've quit chasing us. They get their strength from trees and there are no trees here.~" he explained, "~You don't have to worry about this since it has no affect on the human body.~'

At least he was pretty sure she was a human…

Standing up he sheathed his sword once more and started walking away. He mentally sighed; he would need to get a new sword soon. The cheap one he currently had would not last much longer if he kept using it in such a way…

'What? What did he say?' She watched silently as he started to walk away.

"Hey, wait! Where are you going?" Was he going to just leave her there? "D-Don't leave me here!" She clambered to her feet.

/////////

He turned his head slightly as he heard the girl loose her footing and collapse in a heap.

His dark eyes widened as the strange girl he had found began to cry.

He had never been any good at comforting _anyone_; so all he could do was stand there awkwardly as the girl sobbed. He watched as salty tears spilled from her eyes leaving glistening trails on her pale cheeks.

She couldn't stop the tears from coming to her eyes. She hated it here! She wanted to go home!

/////////////

Groaning Kagome opened her eyes. Why did her neck hurt so much?

Glancing at her pillow she realized 'What? My backpack? Why am I resting on my backpack?'

The ground felt cold, slightly moist, and rocky. Pushing herself upright so that she was leaning on her hands, she noticed something lying on the ground a few feet away from her.

She felt the bile rise in her throat as she regretfully recognized the object.

It was the Flower Insects' corpse.

"NOOO!" she screamed as she bolted away from the corpse blindly.

Only to ram straight into something, or rather _someone_.

"~Do you want to ram into a stone wall?~" The dark haired boy scowled as he blocked the girl from the wall, "~I thought you were sleeping.~"

The only response he received was having the girl look up at him with those wide blue eyes of hers.

He slightly smirked at her, "~You regained your strength, eh?~"

_Who_ was this guy? Glancing around the confused girl took in her surroundings. She was in an underground stone cavern. She and the boy were currently standing in the only patch of light. The light flickered down from the cliff like entrance that the boy had leapt through before.

She could hear the sound of rushing water nearby. Narrowing her eyes slightly she searched for the source of the sound. Looking off to her right she could slightly see the underground river in the dim light.

… It wasn't a dream. This was very real. What had happened before was _real_. Kagome felt the blood drain from her face.

Reading the girl's terrified expression, he mentally frowned. He didn't have time for her to have another breakdown. He quickly made his way over to her.

Snatching one of her hands from her face he lightly directed her back over to where she had been sleeping.

"~Out of the way. I have things to do.~" he told her.

Sure she couldn't understand him, but he knew that she would feel more comfortable just hearing someone else's voice. He knew that if he didn't talk she would worry herself needlessly; he didn't need her becoming so frightened and paranoid that she might try to attack him.

Not that he was all that worried, she couldn't seem to stand up without almost tripping and he could tell she had next to no physical strength.

But he knew that even the smallest creature could become dangerous if it were defending itself. Besides it's not like anyone would ever know that he had spoken so much to her.

He turned his attention back to the stone wall he had been observing before she had interrupted him, confidant that she would stay out of his way. The stone wall was covered in thick tree roots that draped down from the entrance above.

Reaching towards one of the enormous roots he muttered to himself, "~Damn it. Why do I have to do… ~" He gave the massive root a powerful tug, ripping it from the rock in a move reminiscent of a certain green clad ninja he had met years ago. "~This?~" he snarled. Without using his chakra no less!

Although he would never admit it, he was slightly proud of the immense strength he possessed without the help of his chakra. A frown made its way across his face, wasting his skills on this sort of demeaning task made his blood boil…

Shaking his head slightly he began slicing the roots into logs with his sword.

Kagome could only stare as she silently observed her admittedly strange male companion as he sliced the roots.

What in the world was he doing? Taking a few steps back she felt her right heel collide painfully with something.

Biting back her yelp of pain, she looked behind her. A large pile of the root logs was gathered. She slightly wondered how long he had been up to this?

She watched as he carried a few more of the logs over his shoulder before he threw them on the pile. He grabbed a log and started to… building _whatever_ it was he was building.

After watching her companion for a few minutes she realized what it was he was building. 'It's a raft.'

He was currently fastening the logs together with a rope he had retrieved from his bag.

It couldn't have been more than seven minutes, but he was almost finished! He was so fast!

Now that she thought about it he moved super fast before too! She mentally began to list all of the amazing feats she had seen him do so far.

'Let's see… He made that humongous leap while carrying me. He was also fine after jumping down from up there' she thought as she eyed the long drop they had fallen from to get where they currently were. 'He killed all of those monsters. And … he saved me.' She thought with a small smile. Just who was this guy?

Drawing her attention back to her companion she watched as he cut the slack rope away before standing up straight to sheath his sword.

Sitting down on the edge of the now completed raft he slumped his head and shoulders down warily. She heard him give out a deep sigh.

'He looks kinda tired.' Kagome thought as she observed him.

She stared at her rescuer finally getting a good look at him now that they weren't running from monsters and she wasn't freaking out.

He had black hair that had a slight navy tint to it, much like her own. His hair stuck up in a way that reminded her of a sitting bird.

She couldn't help but giggle at the silly thought of the boy's hair turning into a bird and flying away.

This earned her a reproachful glare from the boy.

Noticing his stare Kagome gave him a sweet smile too which he merely huffed and turned his head away from her.

Her smile faltered slightly as he turned away, he could have at least smiled back…

Well, he certainly didn't strike her as a people person that's for sure!

Going back to her observations she noticed that his skin was very pale again, much like her own.

Staring at his face she decided that he had a very handsome face, if she did say so herself. She had never been very boy crazy like Eri and Yuka were, but she figured that was all right, after all boys were not everything...

The last thing she observed was his clothes. From what she had seen so far she guessed it was safe to assume that this place was very different from her own world. That would mean the people here would be very different than her own, thus having a completely different style of clothing among other things.

He wore black pants that ended in straps that went over his shoes like dancing leggings often ended in, with some sort of navy wrap around his waist with a thick purple rope holding it together. He wore a white robe like top that ended at his waist tucked in under the wrap and rope.

She felt her cheeks heat up a bit. His shirt was wide open! 'Hey! Don't stare! He'll think I'm a total creep!' swallowing lightly she adverted her gaze from his chest.

She reasoned to herself that his shirt must have come loose earlier when he had saved her. That made sense, from what she had seen there were no fastenings to hold the shirt closed so it must have easily come undone. He was probably just too tired to care about fixing his shirt at the moment, plus if they had to run again it would just come undone again anyways.

Her mind began to wander as she took in his physical appearance. She supposed his countenance could have been either Western or Asian…

She hated herself for it, but she couldn't help but wonder if the people here had a different set of DNA? That was the only thing she could think of that could account for his completely incredible abilities. Not to mention his hairless chest, she figured either he hadn't hit puberty yet or it was in his genetics.

Since she had deemed the first possibility an embarrassing taboo that she didn't want to think about, she decided that she would just have to wait to observe more of the humans here. That is _if_ she saw any other humans here.

Her head drooped a bit as she let out a small sigh. Great, now she was starting to feel depressed…

She needed to distract her self from these thoughts, if she over thought about him she was sure things would become very awkward. She couldn't afford to offend him in any way seeing as he was currently her only shot at surviving in this new world.

Looking around for anything to distract herself she spotted the blanket that he had lent her.

Walking over to it she picked it up in her hand. 'When did I fall asleep?'

'Now I remember. I started crying. He was leaving me, but when I cried he stopped… and he came back and sat down beside me. He kept looking away, but… It still made me feel safe. Then I felt sleepy.'

Kagome stared silently at the wrinkled blanket in her hand. A guilty thought came to her mind, 'Maybe he left me because he wanted to build a raft.'

That made her feel horrible...

Her face fell.

'I guess… I'm a bother to him. A stranger who doesn't even speak his language shows up out of nowhere. But he felt sorry for me, so he took care of me.' She lifted the blanket up to her face. 'But now I'm just in his way.'

She felt her face burn in shame as she stared at the blanket.

There was only one thing she could do to get herself out of this slump.

Putting on a determined face she got to work as she cleaned off the blanket.

After shaking off the loose dirt, she quickly pulled off the leaves that were caught on the blanket's rough material. Eyeing it, she deemed it was clean enough. She quickly set to folding it up neatly.

She stood up with the neatly folded blanket in her arms. She made her way over to the raft where the boy was sitting. He raised his head up to look at her as she approached.

Gulping, she knew that he wouldn't be able to understand a word she was about to say. He would probably think she was some sort of idiot for trying to keep talking to him despite the fact that he made it very clear that he didn't speak her language. But she didn't really care about that; she was doing this to make herself feel better!

Sitting before him on her knees she began, "Excuse me? I just wanted to apologize for returning your kindness with my tears. I feel deeply ashamed as I look back on my earlier behavior. I realize now just how ungrateful I must have seemed." She said in the sincerest voice she could offer hoping he would understand that she was apologizing to him despite the language barrier.

She clenched her fists up in what she hoped he would interpret as determination "I'm not sure how I got here. Or even why I'm here. But… I know I won't get anywhere being all teary and depressed. If my gramps were here he'd say that we were destined to meet. As corny and lame as it sounds, I can't help but feel that maybe we _were_ destined to meet. So I'll stay with you for now. I'll try my best to not be a burden to you."

Phew! She was glad she got that out of her system. She didn't think she had ever sounded so formal to anyone before, not even the time when she had been awarded a certificate by her principle for making it into the top 30 students list at her school.

The boy merely stared at her with a slightly annoyed face. "~… I don't understand what she's saying.~" He muttered to himself.

/////////

It had been around half an hour since the girl had tried to tell him _something_ important. At least he though she was, he could tell from her body language and tone that she had felt guilty about something. He ran his hand through his hair as he placed his bag and a make shift torch onto the middle of the raft. He had made the torch by twisting some of the root shavings he had cut from the roots earlier and fastened the middle and ends using the remaining tidbits of rope.

He lifted one end of a long pole that he had also made earlier, planning to use the pole to steer and move them along the river.

Twisting the pole around in the palm of his hand slightly, he scowled as he waited on the girl.

Hearing the clicking sounds that were made by her oddly fashioned shoes on the stone he looked up as she walked quickly towards him.

Catching his eyes she gave him a sheepish smile as she rattled out what he assumed was some form of apology. "Sorry for keeping you waiting! I almost forgot my bag."

Stepping onto the raft, she quickly moved towards the middle. She smiled as she looked fondly at her yellow backpack. She couldn't believe that her bag had stayed with her through the explosion that had brought her to this place.

'I'd hate to leave it behind.'

He watched her for a few seconds before giving her a slight nod letting her know that he accepted her apology. "~We must be going~"

He began to push the raft into the river, jumping onto it as it launched smoothly into the river.

Standing he lowered the pole and guided the boat down the slightly strong current.

Wrapping her arms around her knees Kagome watched as the light from the entrance disappear as they moved around a bend.

'I guess we're leaving the forest now…'

Looking up she stared at her companion's back. 'I wonder where we're going?'

She wanted to ask, but she had no idea how to get the message across. Her companion didn't really strike her as someone to use charades; he seemed too aloof to bother with any excessive silly movements…

She clenched her fists 'I should stop worrying. I made up my mind. I decided to go with him. I decided…'

Starring at her fists she realized it was getting darker!

She sat in the darkness a moment before commenting stupidly, "It's completely dark."

Quickly she began groping around in the darkness looking for anything to cling on to. "Aw, man! I don't believe this!"

She held her bag tightly, "I can't see a thing!"

The raft began to rock as it went over some mild rapids. Not expecting the sudden movement she yelped slightly as she pressed her chest and sides onto the raft, trying to move as little as possible, "Oh, no. Please."

She heard a shuffling sound coming from behind her. Turning her head she watched as a small ball of light appeared. It steadily grew illuminating the tip of the torch the boy had put on the raft earlier.

Unexpectedly the tip of the torch caught fire. As the flame grew Kagome could see the outline of the boy as he held the torch.

He looked down at her with a clearly annoyed expression "~Noisy, aren't you?~"

He placed the flaming torch in her arms "~Hold it.~"

Holding the torch mutely, she stared at it nervously, 'Um, well…. Hello? How did you start this fire just now? Did he use magic? Or some super-natural power? I thought he was super human, but still, I can't believe he could do something like this.'

She stared wide-eyed at the flame searching for some kind of clue. She couldn't see anything special about the flame…

'Is everyone in this world like him?' she wondered. She worried her bottom lip with her teeth a bit. 'What'll they think of me? I'm just an ordinary high school girl. I'm good at analyzing stuff, but still… I'm just a weak little girl.' She thought self-consciously.

At least she could see her hands thanks to the flame she thought, trying to find something to be positive about.

She stared at the boys back; she felt she could trust him.

She had always been good at feeling if people could be trusted. 'I think… That's why I decided to come with him.'

Blinking, Kagome realized she _still_ didn't know his name! How embarrassing! She had practically given this guy her complete trust, yet they didn't even know each other's names!

"Excuse me?" she called out to grab his attention, "My name is…Kagome." Pointing to her face as she said her name. "Kagome Higurashi."

"I'm Kagome."

"Kagome." She continued to point to herself while smiling.

"Ka- Go- Me. … Ka- Go- Me!" She repeated once more hoping he understood what she was getting at.

She stopped pointing her finger at her face. Pointing it towards him she asked him, "And you?"

He glanced at her with those dark eyes of his…

Lowering her hand she started to feel foolish, "Um…"

'I guess he didn't understand. Or maybe I shouldn't have spoken to him?'

She was slightly startled when she heard him begin to speak, she didn't think he was going to answer her.

"~The Awakening is supposed to be… Something that drives this world into turmoil.~" He stated.

"~I didn't expect… That the Awakening would ask my name in such a friendly way.~" He muttered more to himself.

He felt the raft shift a little as the newly identified 'Kagome' stood up behind him. He felt the warmth of her breath on the back of his neck as she leaned forward in an inquisitive gesture, obviously waiting for an answer. "Huh? … Hello?"

"~My name is Sasuke.~" he told her as he faced forward. "~Uchiha, Sasuke.~"

He let it sink in for a moment before addressing her, "~Kagome~"

The two companions stood in silence, each lost in their own thoughts as the raft floated down the river.

//////////////

"~They're not back yet?~" The captain asked his two subordinates as he circled on a different eagle.

He had forced one of his men to trade birds with him.

He was glad that the overgrown, biting, flying _RAT with wings_ would no longer bother him! The bird he was currently ridding was quite tame and docile. Grinning he gave the bird a pat, ruffling a few of the feathers on it's neck. The eagle gave a loving chirp as it leaned into his hand.

"~It's been a while since the three of them climbed down the rope into the Sea of Trees. They must have reached the 'Golden Nest' by now.~"

One of his men spoke up, "~I'm afraid they were eaten by the Flower Insects, Sir.~"

His other subordinate agreed, "~ I think so, too.~"

His eagle lolled its tongue from the side of its beak lazily as it trilled contently as he continued stroking the sleek feathers of its neck.

The captain frowned slightly, "~They probably were…~"

His youngest subordinate gave a shout, "~Sir! Look over there!~"

The young man pointed out towards the horizon.

Several figures riding giant bird summons loomed in the distance.

"~Are they our troops, Captain? Have they come to support us?~"

"~How can that be fool! There are only ten eagle summoning scrolls for the Waterfall ninjas' usage! All of the other eagle summons are currently out on long-term missions! That's why there's only six of us here!~"

The flock of riders were steadily coming closer. The Waterfall ninjas could now make out a few details of the newcomers.

"~Sir, look! Look how they ride the eagle summons! There's only one hidden village that flies standing on the backs of the eagles.~" the subordinate yelled to his captain.

The youngest of the three called out, "~They must be here to get the Awakening!~"

The captain waited until he could make out the symbols etched onto their headbands.

"~Mist ninjas from Mizu no kuni! Let's get out of here! We're clearly outnumbered. We can't defeat them!~" The captain ordered his men, there was no point in loosing their lives. Especially since the Waterfall village had been dwindling in shinobi numbers due to the recent onslaught of wars.

///////

A man standing on the back of an eagle muttered, "~They're fleeing.~"

Another man was riding a draft slightly below the first man. He had heard the young man's words with his sharp ears. Asserting his authority as the squadron leader he yelled out a command to the rider who had spoken, "~Don't kill them, Naraku. We should capture them alive.~"

Naraku chuckled darkly as one of the riders they were now chasing seemingly fell off his mount.

A sick smile crossed the young mans face as he raised his arms out touching his palms together. A sick purple glow engulfed his palms.

Feeling that he had collected enough chakra he released it aiming at one of the remaining two riders.

A blood-curdling scream could be heard.

He chuckled as the boy's torso was ripped from his body, seemingly incinerated right through. He loved how the blood splattered in the air.

///////

Kagome watched idly as the raft drifted down the river, the current had become stronger as they drifted. 'It's kinda scary when we go over those small rapids. I keep feeling like I'm gonna fall off.'

Folding her hands into her lap she bit back an exasperated sigh. She was starting to become bored… She hated having to stay so quiet, she wanted to talk!

She narrowed her eyes slightly at her companion, it seemed like he enjoyed the silence.

Sasuke had his eyes closed as he listened intently to the sound of the river's flow.

Abruptly, he opened his eyes. They needed to get off the raft.

Droping his pole he had been using to guide them down the river, Sasuke quickly grabbed his bag.

He grabbed Kagome, slinging her over his shoulder once again. He heard her squeak in surprise as she tensed her body on his shoulder.

Ignoring her indignant cries, Sasuke coiled his legs and sprang from the raft, touching down on a small stone alcove besides the river.

Setting the seething girl down on the ground he ignored what he supposed was an upset lecture in her language.

"Look here Sasuke! If we're gonna be traveling together we need to get a few rules straight! You need to warn me before you grab me like that! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

He turned around once she finished her angry rant. He didn't see what she could possibly angry at him for.

"~Stay there.~" he told her simply before taking the torch from her hands and walking away.

'What did he see?' Kagome wondered as Sasuke walked off, taking the torch with him.

She hoped that there weren't any more monsters. Sitting back down she rested her head on her knees. As she sat on the ground she could feel deep vibrations running through the ground.

Tilting her head she listened to a deep rumbling noise.

What was that sound?

Did it have anything to do with their jumping off the raft?

Her curiosity got the best of her as she stood and headed in the direction that she had seen Sasuke go off in.

Placing a hand on the cavern's wall Sasuke tried to figure out the direction the sound was coming from. His time spent in Otogakure had not been wasted, he had learned how to track through sounds and vibrations.

"~Must be this way…~" he said as he turned to his left.

Sasuke quickly turned when a loud slash and startled yelp met his ears. Holding the torch up, he could see Kagome as she hauled herself out of a shallow pool of water completely drenched.

She sputtered out water "What the… I missed that puddle."

Looking up she saw Sasuke holding the torch. He had a hand over his face as he rubbed his temples in a frustrated manner.

'Crap. I did it again. I'm being a nucence.'

"Heh heh… Oops? Uh, I'm sorry. I wanted to know what that sound was. But it was so dark…" She rattled out. Grabbing the hem of her green skirt she began wringing the water out.

Brr… Great, now she was wet and cold. It was going to take _forever_ for her clothes to dry!

Ignoring the nasty feeling off her wet clothes she continued to ramble. She just couldn't keep quiet any longer!

"You know, I don't think I've ever been in such darkness before. I mean, where I live, we have lights everywhere at night. We also have Mom and Pop stores open 24 hours in my neighborhood. It's really handy to have them near your house when you run out of milk-"

She was cut off from her ramble as Sasuke shoved something into her face, waiting for her to take the bundle from him.

"~I _don't_ understand what you're saying… But it's a good time to do this. I need you to change into these clothes.~" he told her before he turned away pointedly.

Binking Kagome looked at what he had handed her. They looked like clothes. Was he giving them to her to wear until her clothes dried?

Glancing at his back she got the feeling that he was currently completely ignoring her. 'I think he wants me to change here.'

Fat chance of that though, she might trust him but she was going to go change a little farther away from him…

After debating for a couple of minutes whether or not to take off her undergarments, she decided to take them off. They were just too saturated with water for her liking… Besides she could put them back on once they dried a little bit… She quickly slipped her bra and underwear into the large pockets of her pants.

Deciding that she had spent enough time changing she trotted back over to Sasuke.

He turned around as her sensed her approaching him, silently looking her over.

He had given her his old clothes that he had worn as a genin in Konoha, his high-necked navy shirt and tan shorts.  
The only reason he had carried the old clothes in his bag was because he didn't trust leaving them back in the Sound while he was away.

The clothes did have the Uchiha clan crests on them after all, and they would have been stolen. Most likely by either the snake-sannin himself, or one of the many fan-people in the Sound village.  
Yes, fan-_people_ meaning both women _and_ men.

Sasuke mentally shuddered. It could be creepy at times because he was _not_ gay!

He brushed the unpleasant thoughts from his mind.

Focusing on Kagome he watched as she held the pants up, they were too wide in her tiny waist… The shirt was also very large and roomy on her small frame.

If it hadn't had been for the comically large size of the clothes and the blue color of her eyes, he decided she could have easily passed for an Uchiha clan member.

Sighing he started searching his bag for some of the rope. Cutting a piece off and handing it to her he commented, "~… They're big on you.~"

"~When we reach a village, I'll get you female clothes.~" He told her as he picked up the wet clothes she had set on the ground so that she could tie the rope around the pants like a belt.

"Oh, that's my … drenched school uniform." She told him thinking he had asked her something as she finished tying her 'belt'.

Sasuke balled the clothes up and tossed them into the river.

"Wahgh! Hey!" Kagome grabbed his arm pointing to where he had thrown her clothes and shoes, "That's my… _Why_ did you _do_ that!?" She yelled at him.

He watched as Kagome became flustered.

"~I need a place to throw them away.~" he explained to her.

"~There's an underground waterfall. Nobody will be able to find your clothes there.~" He pulled his arm out of her grasp.

"~You may not understand me, but… The Awakening which everyone is hunting for right now… is you, Kagome.~" Sasuke told her as he placed his hands on her upper arms trying to keep her attention on him.

"~You'd be immediately discovered dressed as you were. If you don't want to get dragged into this stupid tug of war among our nations, you'll have to get rid of everything you brought here.~" Sasuke explained to the obviously confused girl.

'I don't understand a word he's saying, but… Somehow I… Ohh!'

She watched as Sasuke picked up her backpack. 'Not my bag!'

"Wait a minute!" She yelled at him. Kagome threw herself at him, wrestling her bag out of his grip, "Are you going to throw _this_ away,_ too_?"

He kept his iron grip on one of the bag's strap, unyielding to her effort to take it from him.

"Look, you can't take it from me, its _mine_! Sure, I know there's no school here. But this is _all_ that I have…That connects me to my own world. _Please_, Sasuke…" she begged quietly.

She felt him let go of the strap.

Walking away he muttered, "~Never mind.~" he walked over to his own drawbag, hoisting it onto his shoulder, "~Keep it.~"

'There must be a … Reason why he wants it.'

Kagome watched as he turned away.

Staring at her yellow bag she realized how selfish she was acting….

"Excuse me?" She called out softly, catching his attention.

She held her bag out to him, "I… Don't _really_ need this…" she mumbled.

'I made up my mind… To trust him.' She smiled lightly.

**End of chapter 2!**

**I didn't get as far as I had originally planned… Sorry that it's so long, leave me a review if you'd like me to break it up into two chapters (let me know where I should split it!)**

**I don't have a lot of time at the moment; I've got to leave in a few minutes for the weekend.**

**I'd appreciate a few more reviews though, it really makes me happy and it motivates me to write faster!**


	3. The Wounded Merchant

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Inu-Yasha, nor do I own the plot or dialogue of the manga From Far, Far Away by Kyoko Hikawa. If you've never read the manga I suggest you take a look at it in your local bookstore!**

**Chapter 3: The Wounded Merchant**

'~How can a… Little thing like that be the Awakening?~' Sasuke wondered as he watched Kagome stumble up the rocky tunnel they were in. They were currently trying to find an exit to the top of the mountain.

'~There must be some mistake.~'

Sasuke stopped before a dead end in the tunnel. Placing his palms on the rough wall he gave it a mighty shove, pushing the stone to create an opening.

"~RAAHHH!!!~" he shouted as the stone gave way, allowing the two companions a view of the sky.

"Wow!" Kagome said as she lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the sudden brightness. "The sky!"

'~If… This girl is the real awakening…. I'll have to…..

Kill her.~' Sasuke thought darkly as Kagome walked past him spreading her arms out in delight as she gazed at the clear blue sky.

Her long hair and clothes were tossed about in the mountain's breeze "Oh! What a beautiful blue sky!"

//////////

"~I guess we lost the peddler, eh?~" a man's gruff voice spoke.

"~Too, bad. If I'd been with you, I wouldn't have let him escape.~" the man continued as he fed a rodent-like creature on his shoulder.

"~Absolutely right, boss. It was unfortunate you weren't with us.~"

"~Dammit! That punk hurt us with some of his jutstu…~"

"~We won't give up. We'll hunt 'im down!~"

The leader spoke to his men, "~Of course we will men. This is the Ookami bandits' turf. He better not underestimate us, the cur. He won't leave here alive.~"

///////////

'Oh, God!! Oh, God! Don't look down, Kagome… Don't look dow- AHH! I _looked_!!! '

Panicked Kagome as she slowly shuffled along a _very_ narrow ledge, following Sasuke.

The two were currently high up on a mountain. They had passed over the top a little while ago and were now slowly making their way around the other side of the mountain.

"~Kagome! Take my hand, Kagome! We're almost there. Its alright, I won't let you fall.~" Sasuke called to her with a hand out stretched. He didn't really care about her feelings it was just that she was slowing him down! He hoped that talking to her would make her move quicker.

He had been wondering when she would let the height finally get to her. She had made it very clear that she was not used to heights when they had first started their climb.

His hand and arm _still_ hurt from where she had clung onto him when they had started out on the mountain face.

'No way. I can't do this. I'll fall.' She glanced up briefly at him, clinging to the cliff side for all she was worth. She felt the rough rocks dig into her skin through her clothes as well as the minor scratches on her exposed skin mainly her arms and legs. 'But I have to!'

She tried to move a step, 'OmiGod! I can't move!' her fear of heights had completely immobilized her. She was starting to feel dangerously lightheaded from sheer panic.

Sighing, Sasuke began sidestepping along the cliff, moving back towards her.

'Wah! The wind!' a rough gust caused Kagome to loose her iron hold on the cliff face. Without her hands to help keep her anchored to the rock, she quickly lost her balance on the precariously narrow ledge. Waving her arms around in an attempt to regain her balance, Kagome found herself careening backwards.

Sasuke grabbed her wrist as she began tumbling backwards, taking Sasuke down with her.

'This is IT!' Kagome wailed in her mind as the sensation of falling engulfed her, sure that she would soon be dead. 'EEK! I'm so sorry, Sasuke!'

The young man was not so inclined to die just yet though. He quickly up righted himself and brought Kagome to his chest bridal style. Gritting his teeth Sasuke brought his feet to skid along the side of the mountain before pushing off powerfully.

The two began to fall down towards a forest. (no, it's not the Sea of Trees. It's outside the ring of mountains surrounding it.)

Twisting around Sasuke braced his back towards the thick tree branches, taking the brunt of the fall.

Luckily Sasuke and Kagome landed in a thick moss-bush.

Letting out a deep breath Sasuke lifted his hand from the back of Kagome's head.

"~What a …Why on earth… am I doing this?~" he grumbled sourly as he brought a hand to his forehead.

Lifting her face from his chest all she could think was 'We're _alive_!' Looking up Kagome could see the cliff they had plummeted from. 'Oh, God… That's gotta be hundreds of feet in the air!'

Sasuke began to push himself up; they had to keep moving.

As he began to sit up, she took note of their rather dubious position; she was practically lying right on top of him!

"Eep! Sorry, didn't mean to sit on you." Kagome said quickly as she rigidly jerked her body away from him.

Kagome hadn't counted on rolling completely off the bush however. She let out a disgruntled shout as she desperately tried to keep herself from falling.

"Ouch!..."

Sasuke just deadpanned at the girl; surely she was going for some sort of clumsiness record of some kind. It was truly a wonder that she had not broken anything yet…

He peered over the side of the bush as she called out his name.

"Sasuke?" Kagome was on her side staring at something.

"There's something here…" she reached out a hand to touch the large object that was halfway hidden by the large bush.

Gingerly feeling the object, she could feel the cool metal beneath her fingers and the polished wood that the metal had been nailed onto. Tracing one of the nails idly, Kagome continued, "It looks like some kinda wheel."

She flinched slightly as Sasuke jumped down from the bush in front of her (the bush was to her back when she fell, so she couldn't see him move). Since her head was currently eye-level with his feet she could see the condition his strange shoes were in.

'His shoes are totally wrecked.' She thought as she pushed herself onto her knees, wincing slightly as her knee scraped against a sharp stick.

'So are his clothes and his bag.' She noticed, looking over her companion from behind. His white shirt had various tears and spots where the fabric was being worn thin along with smudges of dirt. The navy wrap looked dirty too, and the purple rope looked a little frazzled at the ends. His bag looked slightly damp, fairly scuffed up and rather travel-worn. 'That must have happened when he saved me.' She realized.

Her face began to heat up 'I thought I'd told myself that I wouldn't be a burden to him… Now he's letting all of his gear get messed up because he's looking out for me.' She couldn't exactly pay him back for any of his damaged equipment or buy him new stuff at the moment, due to the fact she had no clue of how this world's economy worked. She didn't know if they used some sort of bartering system or some kind of currency…

Shaking herself, she decided she would worry about paying him back later.

She watched as Sasuke brought the large wheel from out of the bush. A few leaves fell from his short hair 'They must have gotten tangled in his hair when we fell from the canopy.' She realized.

'Stupid! What if he had gotten hurt from that fall? He took all the damage on the way down!' She mentally berated herself. Reaching up she tugged lightly on his wrap.

It was becoming a habit now to keep on apologizing to him, she realized distantly.

"Sasuke, Sasuke, I'm _sorry_!Are you ok?" She asked him.

"I just wasn't used to standing on a narrow ledge like that." She began to ramble, "I'll try to be better next time. You know, my gym teacher once told me I had a good sense of balance. I'm not sure if she said that just to be nice though… But I gotta admit that I slipped and hit my head when I was practicing on the balance beam last week. Man, I thought that bump and bruise would _never_ go away! Anyways, I became overconfident and I stepped forward in my foot funny… Heh-Heh!"

Not bothering to look at her, Sasuke said, "~ I _don't_ understand you.~" as he leaned the fallen wheel against a tree, walking off to find where it had come from.

He heard Kagome trotting behind him "Sasuke?" she called out to him.

He held out his arm to keep her behind him as they reached a small clearing. He heard the girl gasp as she looked into the clearing.

There was an open carriage turned over on its side with bags of wares or possessions scattered near the cart, a horse laid there unmoving at the front. The animal was still tethered to the cart.

Sasuke could see a man lying on his back half way across the clearing, he wasn't moving.

He walked over to the unconscious man kneeling down to search for a pulse.

A slow pulse moved beneath his fingers and Sasuke could see the slight rise and fall of his chest. Looking up to Kagome, he could see that she was worried. "~He's still breathing. There's not much blood.~" he told her.

'Wow, the first human I've seen since I got here, besides Sasuke that is.' Kagome thought as she watched Sasuke inspect the man.

Sasuke seemed to tell her that the man was ok before he stood up.

"~I'll find some medicinal herbs.~"

Huh, were they leaving now? Kagome started to follow her companion. She had hoped they could have helped the man…

Sasuke turned and pushed her back a little, "~You don't have to come with me. Stay here.~" he ordered her.

She watched as he jogged off into the forest. "I think he told me to stay here…" she mumbled as she stood awkwardly.

She sighed,_ great_ now what was she supposed to do? She stood helplessly next to the man, unsure of what to do.

She stared at the unconscious man taking in his appearance 'I hope he's alright.'

The young man was wearing a long black cloak with an equally long purple robe overtop of it. He had inky black hair that was pulled into a tiny ponytail at the nape of his neck.

"I'm worried about you, but I can't really help too much… I might end up doing more harm than good. I have no way of knowing if you hurt your neck so it's really best that I don't try to move you around." She muttered half-heartedly to the unconscious man.

She couldn't even be sure that the people here had the same anatomy that she did so it would probably be better to wait for Sasuke to come back before she tried anything major.

She crouched down next to the man, observing his injuries that she could visibly see.

He had a rather nasty gash on his forehead that had caked up blood that was beginning to clot. "Red blood… That means you guys have hemoglobin in your blood like me…" Kagome muttered recalling a lesson from her biology class.

She could see several dark spots on his robes 'Must be blood.'

She carefully pulled his robes up so that she could see his right leg.

She gasped 'I'm pretty sure it's broken.' The shinbone looked obviously snapped in at least two spots, no wonder the man was unconscious. That is if he didn't hit his head, the shock from that bad of a break would definitely do it…

Deciding that she better not touch that leg, Kagome carefully uncovered his left leg. She decided this leg looked much better than his right. 'Of course, he's gonna need a bunch of stitches…'

Unable to resist the urge to do _something_ to help the poor guy, Kagome dragged over a small log. Well it was more of a thick branch with the limbs torn off than an actual log. "Let's see, it's still bleeding. If I elevate his leg some, it should slow the bleeding down a bit."

She smiled slightly; at least she could make herself _kinda_ useful!

Kagome raised the man's leg very, very carefully onto the log. With that done she grabbed his robe, bunching it up a bit before she used it to apply pressure on the gash.

Her good deed done, she was left alone with her thoughts. 'I hope Sasuke comes back soon…' Looking down at the unconscious man's face she thought, 'As you can tell, I get scared as soon as he's out of my sight. I mean, I feel awful that I'm such a burden to him. But I don't know how I'd survive without him.'

She smiled bitterly 'I feel like I'm walking on eggshells. I wanna go home. In my world I know how to at least take care of myself… But I can't go home. Uh… What should I do? I'm beginning to feel depressed again.'

"~Nng …~" the unconscious man groaned a little.

Kagome froze 'He's waking up!'

"~Heeeer….~" the man groaned.

'What? Here?' Kagome wondered. (**AN: No, he's not really saying 'here' it just sounds similar and Kagome is desperately trying to understand him even if she knows that he's not speaking the same language. But you know some words sound similar between different languages, so she's hoping that's the case here.)**

"Uh, sorry. I don't know where here is." She told the man quickly lifting her hands from his left leg where she had been applying pressure. She hoped he wasn't awake because she had hurt him or something…

"~Heeer. Mmnng.~" the man rasped out bringing a hand to his throat.

'What should I do? I wonder if he's in a lot of pain.' Kagome pulled her hands to her chest anxiously. 'I don't understand you.'

"Sasuke!" She called out as she stood up. She hoped he could hear her.

"Sasuke! Where _are _you? The man's _awake!_" She yelled in the direction he had gone off in.

The raven-haired girl was completely unaware of the man who stepped out of the tree line behind them.

"~ FOUND HIM!~"

Kagome turned to face the unfamiliar voice. It was another man…

"~_Hee- Hee_! So you've been lying here all this time, eh?~" the man's deep voice sneered as he made his way towards the clearing.

"~And you have this cute little girl as an additional prize. _How thoughtful_.~"

Kagome could see the man better now, he was tall and had long black hair pulled up in a long ponytail. He was wearing what looked like an animal fur skirt with tight black shorts underneath, like bike-shorts, with metal armor across his bare chest. A sword rested at his hip and a small rodent-like creature was perched on his shoulder.

Kagome unconsciously shivered, she didn't like his tone and there was something else _off_ about the man. 'Who is this creepy guy?' She drew a few steps back towards the injured man. Where was Sasuke?

The injured man struggled to lean up. "~Who are you?~" he asked weakly as he gasped in pain.

"~We haven't met before. I'm the leader of the men you ran into last night. Too bad I wasn't with them at the time; otherwise I wouldn't be wasting my time right now. Maybe you've heard of me, I'm Koga the great leader of the Okami Bandits!~"

The injured man cringed at the name.

Koga sauntered over to the man mocking him, "~Aw… You can't move? Looks like you're hurt.~" he simpered cruelly before kicking the injured man swiftly in the gut. "~ARGH!!~"

"EEK!!" Kagome screamed at the newcomer. "What are you _doing_? Can't you see he's hurt!" She yelled at the man as she tried to push Koga away from the injured man. She wasn't very successful however. This guy was like a rock, he refused to move an inch!

Distracted by the girl momentarily Koga snarled, "~I'll deal with _you_ later!~"

He violently shoved her away. "Owww!" Kagome yelped as she fell to the ground, landing harshly on her rear.

Drawing his blade from his hip, he raised it high, prepared to kill the peddler.

"~DIE!~" he howled as he began to move his sword.

Kagome watched in utter horror as Koga moved, she couldn't do anything! Taking a deep breath she screamed at the top of her lungs, "_SASUKE!!!!_"

Sasuke burst from the forest in a barely visible blur, appearing behind Koga his own blade poised to strike. As he slashed his sword across the man's back he was startled when he only sliced air. When had the man moved? Why hadn't he sensed the man's movement?

Turning he watched as the man appeared across the field behind him. The man had sort of shimmered into existence with a small tornado. Sasuke knew that this was not like any transportation jutstu he had encountered before. He needed to be on his guard.

The animal perched on Koga's shoulder squeaked angrily as he landed, wobbling a bit.

"~You… You have a sword! One of those traveling warriors, eh?~"

The injured man held up a hand towards Sasuke before imploring, "~H- Help me… That guy is the head of a band of robbers… I ran into them last evening. They'd been robbing travelers… I got away, but the wheel of my carriage came off…~" the man explained in a raspy voice, dry from the lack of water.

"~Ha Ha Haa!~" Koga jeered shrugging his arms out as he continued, "~What are you going to do, help him? You're just some traveling mercenary. You're no white knight. Or would you rather die here, playing the hero?~"

Gritting his teeth Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "~Not my lucky day…~"

He lazily swished his blade around as if he were swatting away an annoying fly.

"~Why do I keep running into trouble?~" he mumbled to no one in particular.

Koga twirled his sword around in a display of dexterity, "~So you want to fight, eh birdbrain? Even if you don't want to fight….~" He lifted his blade into a fighting stance, "~I'll kill you anyway because…. You made the mistake of striking me.~"

Small twisters formed at his feet as he sprang towards Sasuke "~You're gonna die, pal!~"

Sasuke looked nonplussed by the display of speed, he was far faster than this small fry. He met the bandit's blade head on, using enough force to knock to sword out of the man's hands. Before he could get a good swing in, the bandit shimmered away in that teleportation-twister of his.

Feh, this was truly pathetic Sasuke decided as he watched Koga appear next to his sword. Smirking he decided he wouldn't _need_ to waste his Sharingan on this nuisance. He could already see through his strange teleportation.

Holding his sword above his head, he blocked the bandit's blade as Koga teleported into the air slightly behind Sasuke.

The two men traded blows as the thief flitted about hoping to catch Sasuke off guard. Snorting slightly Sasuke stabbed the man in the side. "~Aarrgg!~" Koga howled as he teleported away, dropping his sword.

Holding his side, he wobbled a bit as he landed. "~ I don't…believe it~" he muttered as he looked down at his bloodied hand in shock, "~How could anyone stab me?~"

It was impossible! Not even ninjas were able to predict his movements when he teleported. Staring at the boy he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise, _something_ was very off about this kid…

Koga flinched backwards as Sasuke began to move forward "~Whoa!~" He began to teleport in bounds, heading back the way he came. "~ I'll… I'll get you later!~" he yelled back to Sasuke as he left.

Sasuke watched, as the small twisters appeared farther and farther away. Sighing he sheathed his sword, what a nuisance… Sasuke was cut short from his mental ramblings however, when he heard a clapping sound. Turning around he was met with the sight of Kagome clapping.

"Way to go, Sasuke! Way to hand it to that creep!!" Kagome cheered.

Sasuke merely stared at her with a slightly frazzled expression on his face.

Shaking his head slightly, he made his way over to the fallen merchant. Holding out the herbs he had gathered he explained to the man, "~ These herbs… they make a poultice. It will lower your fever. Take it with water.~"

He held out a water canteen to the man, who took it gratefully saying, "~Thank God, it's koko!~"

Picking up on the word Kagome thought, 'Hmm… So '~koko~' means water… If I'd known that word, I could have given him water earlier…'

Sasuke was helping the man put the poultice on his wounds.

"~I'll put a temporary dressing on your wounds. Then we should head for the nearest town. We don't want to stay here, that guy will probably return with his men. ….Your horse will be alright, I'll fix your carriage for you in exchange for a ride.~"

"~What? My horse? Really?~" the man asked Sasuke.

Growling slightly Sasuke pushed the remaining few bandages and poultice into the man's hands, "~ You can use your hands, can't you? Put the poultice on your leg.~" A scowl on his face, he needed to stop being the good Samaritan! Otherwise he'd be helping every wretched person he came across.

The only reason he was helping this man was because he and Kagome needed to blend in as inconspicuously as they could. Traveling in a small group on a wagon would allow them to avoid major suspicion. All villages whether civilian or shinobi had become increasingly hostile to travelers lately, believing that they were all disguised ninjas or spies. Even Konoha, the village that had once allowed travelers of all sorts to enter freely had shut its doors. Clearly Orochimaru's attack had left far more damage than the mere physical damage…

Blinking at Sasuke's sudden coldness the man said, "~Um…. Okay.~"

The merchant bent over trying to reach his leg. His wounds made him too stiff to bend properly and he didn't want to rip open the scabs that were forming.

Seeing the man struggle Kagome decided to offer her help, "Ah, you want to put this around your leg? Let me do it for you."

The man stared at Kagome as she wrapped his leg. Lifting a finger to point at her he began, "~ Hey, you… You must be from… One of those islands, right? Because you don't speak our language…. What a waste, you're soo pretty too…~" muttering the last part to himself.

Sasuke looked up from the horse, he couldn't afford for the man to become suspicious. They couldn't leave any clues that Kagome was the Awakening…

The man continued to question poor Kagome, who looked rather flustered and confused, "~There are so many islands off of the main continent, and a different tribe on each one, right?~"

"Um… Wha?"

"~And many islanders are coming over to the mainland… Were you captured by slave traders?~"

"I'm really sorry… but I don't understand what your saying…"

Sasuke used a tiny bit of chakra to wake the horse up. He needed to end the conversation now.

The horse whinnied as it clambered to stand on its hooves.

"~Oh, he's up!~" the man's attention was successfully drawn away from Kagome.

'Language…' she thought as she watched Sasuke put the wheel back on. Clenching her fists Kagome realized 'That's it! I gotta learn their language. Then… Next time he wants water or something, I can help. I could be less of a burden to Sasuke.'

Standing up she vowed 'Yes! Instead of crying over my situation, I'll try to learn their language. That's what I should be doing now.' Looking up to the sky she smiled 'Now I feel … Much better now that I have a goal!'

**(AN: Now that Kagome is learning the new language, I'm putting the shinobi speech in "taco" and her native Japanese in "~taco~". It was getting a little annoying and I kept forgetting to put the special quotations on...)**

The merchant, whom had introduced himself as Miroku chatted with Sasuke as the younger man carried him over to his cart "You know, I heard a slave trader say that… Some of the island girls he'd kidnapped had escaped. I heard that at the last check point, a good 3-day's walk from here. I promise not to tell. She's wearing your clothes, right?"

Sasuke was internally sickened by the thought of Kagome being an escaped slave. The countries and shinobi nations had gone downhill in the past two years. It was not uncommon to see islanders or even normal civilians enslaved or indentured; it was really just a way for rogue ninja and other shady characters to make a quick buck.

Most of the islands had never even seen (or heard of in some cases) a ninja before, thus they were helpless in the face of a ninja attack. Shinobi were desperate for money now, taking on any and all jobs that they could regardless of morals.

"I gave her my clothes because hers were torn. That's all. Her family died during the journey to our country." Sasuke lied easily.

"She was all alone… and latched onto me when we met." He explained as he set Miroku into the back of the cart.

Miroku smiled a little, "I see. Sounds like a made-up story. But I'll believe it for now. I suggest you come up with a better one." He said conspiratorially.

"Anyway, she should be wearing something else. People will notice her with those clothes on. Let's see…" Miroku said as he started shifting though his wares.

Pulling out a pretty yukatta Miroku asked, "How about this yukatta?"

"I trade clothes, you see." He explained to Sasuke when the boy had given a dubious glance at the yukatta along with a '_why is there a yukata in there?_' look in his eyes. Miroku sweat dropped slightly ' Oh, come on I'm not _that_ big of a pervert!'

Putting on a sales-pitch voice he continued, "I have men's clothes, too. Did you know that the back of your shirt is ruined?"

Pulling out a few more garments "What about this one? It should look fine on a handsome young man like you. I have shoes, too. See? I have bags, too."

Displaying the wares Miroku went for the kill, " How about 150 Zol for the whole set?"

(**AN: I'm not sure what the currency is called in Naruto. So I'll just use the one from the Far, Far Away manga for now. If someone could tell me, I'd appreciate it!)**

Sasuke stared. "…"

Kagome made her way over to Sasuke, his bag in her arms.

Frowning a little Sasuke stated, "Too much. How about 100 Zol?"

Miroku stared at Sasuke as though he had sprouted a second head, "_WHAT?_"

Sweat dropping he asked, "How can you demand a discount from a wounded man?"

Not missing a beat Sasuke replied, "How can you think of overcharging a man who saved your life?"

Sputtering Miroku watched as Sasuke picked up the yukatta, examining it. "A white knight doesn't need to be rewarded for his good deed." He declared lamely.

Sasuke responded, "I'm no white knight. If you happen to be the kind of guy who doesn't ask for a reward for saving someone, I'd like to meet him." Examining the fabric Sasuke decided that it was suitable for now.

Kagome hovered close to Sasuke, a look of total concentration on her face. Despite the fact she couldn't understand a single word she listened intently to Sasuke and Miroku's conversation.

Sighing Miroku tried one last time leaning slightly on the side of the wagon, "Hey, … 100 Zol is robbery. I need to eat while I'm recovering, you know."

Sasuke paid him no mind as he handed Kagome the yukatta and took his bag from her. "Kagome, change into these clothes. Rewarf. Do you understand?" He ordered her.

Kagome smiled as she headed to get dressed behind a tree '~So "rewarf" means 'change'.~'

She took her undergarments from her pocket and slipped them on. They were still a bit damp, but nowhere near as bad as before. Grinning she set to figuring out how to put on the yukatta.

Damning his conscience, Sasuke unfastened his sword from his belt, holding it out to Miroku.  
Coldly telling him," Never mind, I'll give you this sword. You should be able to get at least 50 Zol for it. I'll just use this one." He said, holding up a different sword.

Sasuke examined the sword the bandit had dropped. It was very high quality and was very well made. Swinging it around lightly to test it, Sasuke nodded in satisfaction.

Miroku asked, "That's the sword that Koga guy left behind, isn't it?" he received a curt nod from the dark eyed boy.

"He must have stolen it- it's a high-quality weapon. I can see he took good care of it." Sasuke told the peddler.

"I bet you'd make a good merchant even though you don't look like one." Miroku muttered under his breath. He let out a small sound of surprise when Sasuke answered, Miroku didn't think he'd heard him.

"Looks have nothing to do with anything." Sauke said in a very short and clipped voice. He was getting annoyed with the man, he talked too much.

"~Sasuke?~" came Kagome's voice as she peered around the back end of the wagon. "~I've changed. "Rewarfed!" she said pleasantly as she fiddled with the obi, trying to tie it into a knot with the two ends flowing. **(AN: remember people, pretend that Kagome's world and Sasuke's world are supposed to be TWO VERY Different worlds! So make-believe that Kagome has never worn anything like a yukatta before….)**

Miroku smiled "Isn't she cute?"

Walking over to her Sasuke adjusted her obi so that she was wearing it properly; they had to look as inconspicuous as possible.

Kagome squeaked as Sasuke had started rewrapping the obi. Her hands had moved immediately to keep the robe from coming undone. '~Whoa! Hey! Personal space!~' she thought as he started speaking to her.

"No, no, you shouldn't tie your obi like that. Fold it and wrap it around you. And tuck this end in. Sajitwarf enihan." Sasuke explained. **(I have no idea how to tie an obi… so just go along with it…)**

Pulling herself away from him she took the end of the obi and tucked it into one of the layers. Looking towards Sasuke she attempted to repeat what he had said, "~Tuck it in… "Shaat enihan?"

Miroku let out a laugh, "She's trying to learn our language, how cute!"

Kagome gave a large smile, taking Sasuke slightly by surprise.

The three had been traveling for a few hours now with Sasuke sitting at the front taking the reigns, while Kagome and Miroku sat in the back of the wagon.

"This is a bow." Miroku told Kagome , who was listening intently.

"A bow?" She parroted Miroku, getting the gist of what he was talking about.

"Right. It belonged to my Grandfather." He told her as he lifted up the ivory colored longbow making the motion of drawing the drawstring back.

"Thanks to this bow… I was able to escape the thieves. But the drawstring broke, so I'm afraid it's not much use anymore."

Miroku handed the bow to Kagome who looked at it.

She had never held a bow before! A delighted smile quickly spread across her face. She had only seen a longbow like this in museums and in movies!

Eager to try the bow, well as much as you could try using a bow with no drawstring or arrows…

It was a little heavy she decided as she held it in one hand as she extended her arm mimicking how archers held their bows. Grinning she perched on her knees striking a pose, giggling. She felt like Robin Hood!

"You can have it if you'd like. I'm not very good with the bow and it's not worth anything without a drawstring so I can't sell it." Miroku told the girl, as she looked simply fascinated with the bow. He wondered just how primitive her island tribe was if she was marveling at a bow…

Smiling he watched as she struck poses, pretending to fire at non-existent enemies with her equally non-existent arrows. She was just like a little kid with a new toy!

Kagome noticed as she played around, that there was really nothing special about the bow besides the ivory color. Examining the pearly wood she found it was smooth to the touch and completely splinter free.

Her fun was short lived however when Sasuke turned and glared at her. Words were not necessary to explain the obvious silent command.

Composing herself she sat back down very tempted to glare right back at him. But her common sense won out, Sasuke was still her only chance at surviving and he could change his mind at any time…

Miroku diffused the awkward silence by continuing where had left off with his tale.

"Then the wheel of my carriage" he patted the side of the carriage to emphasize the word, "You know "carriage''?"

Kagome realized that Miroku was trying to continue their little game of 'repeat after me' and sounded out the word, "Carriage?"

"Right! The wheel of my carriage came off while I was escaping. Then I fell from the cliff."

"I fell from the cleef?" Kagome repeated as best she could. It was very tricky to mimic some of the sounds!

Shaking his head Miroku tried to correct Kagome, " Not "from the cleef" From the _cliff_. "

"Cleef." She told him, thinking that she was pronouncing it right.

Unknown to the two passengers in the back of the wagon, a barely noticeable smile crept onto the normally blank face of Sasuke Uchiha.

/////////

In a dimly lit cave the young leader of the Okami Bandits laid on a pile of furs, leaning against a wall. His side was wrapped in bandages from where Sasuke had stabbed him.

He smirked as one of his men informed him on the peddler's movement.

The rodent-like creature on his shoulder made a few sounds like a cross between a purr and a chirp as a malicious gleam entered Koga's eyes.

"So they're headed for the town of Calco, are they?"

////////

It was dusk at the town of Calco, time for merchants and shops to begin closing down after a long day. Kagome looked in awe as she watched a few merchants gather their goods into bundles using the mats that they used to display their wares during the day.

'~Wow! People… Buildings… It's a town!~' She realized as the wagon rattled a bit on the cobbled street. Quickly she began to glance around trying to take in the sight all at once.

Turning his head around Sasuke saw that Kagome was looking around in a very noticeable manner. A few passerbyers walking on the street glanced at the strange girl.

Scowling, he reached back placing a hand on her head to forcibly stop her movements.

" Don't stare." He ordered her as he guided the horse towards a building with a sign. Kagome only rubbed her now sore head in reply.

Easily jumping down from the driver's seat he made his way to the wooden door.

Giving it a few solid knocks he called out, "Hello? Is the Doctor in? I have a wounded man here!"

A man holding a basket of what appeared to be herbs had been walking by when he heard Sasuke's voice. Walking up to the young dark haired boy, the man shifted his basket under one arm.

"Another customer, eh? What a busy day for the Doctor!" he told Sasuke in a conversational voice. "The Doctor's in, but he may be too busy to see your friend."

The door opened a bit and a voice said, "It's okay. I'm free. Come in."

A man in his mid 50's answered the door; he had bushy grey hair pulled back into a ponytail. He had a widow's peak that made his receding hairline look like an M, with a mustache and beard to match.

Opening the door wider so that the villager and Sasuke could see inside. "They don't need me anymore. It's the undertaker's turn now."

The villager rearranged his grip on his basket as he peered inside, "What? Doctor, you mean…"

Sasuke only turned and made his way back to the wagon. Motioning to Kagome to come over to him, he helped lift her down from the wagon. With Kagome out of the way he turned to Miroku and picked him up bridal style.

Walking back into the Doctor's office/house he made his way over to the Doctor who was talking with the villager in the middle of the room.

The villager was looking at what appeared to be bodies lined up on the floor next to the wall. There were sheets covering the heads and torsos of the bodies. Kagome stared slightly disturbed at the sight.

Whistling low the villager commented, "Boy oh Boy! So they all died, eh?"

Nodding his head gravely the Doctor replied, "Ruptured intestines… Bone fractures throughout the body… weapon wounds… and excessive bleeding."

Sitting down in a chair, the Doctor blew on his pipe, sighing deeply, "How can I save patients who have sustained such massive injuries? I'm not a medic-nin, even if I were, I'm only one man."

Miroku asked from his position in Sasuke's arms, "Aren't they all our shinobi?"

The Doctor nodded, "Yes, they are ninja from Kumo as well as members of the Lightning Country Army."

"So even a tiny town like this is affected by the war?" Miroku asked.

The villager set his basket down on a table and answered, "Yesterday we heard troops from a bunch of nations were gathering at the Sea of Trees. We thought our town would be safe, being so far from there. But all those wounded soldiers were brought here this morning."

Acting interested Sasuke asked, "The Sea of Trees?" as he placed Miroku down on the Doctor's patient examination table.

The Doctor commented, "I'm not surprised that many of them have sword wounds and jutsu wounds, but I don't understand some of the other injuries."

A heavily bandaged man lying on the other side of the room on a bed began to cry out, "I'm…. Scared…"

Kagome and Sasuke turned to look at the man, while the Doctor continued working on Miroku. He commented," He's the only survivor."

"… Of that man…" the solder rasped out.

*** (Voice over, but I suspect that it was a seer's prediction.)** Soldiers from all over will be coming here to Lightning Country, searching for the Awakening. The Waterfall Village will be the first Country to send shinobi. They're probably flying out their shinobi in order to arrive before the other armies. Then the Water Country and Lightning Country will send their troops. *

(**Flashback to yesterday. This is the soldier's memory)**

The Lightning Country's Army was standing at the entrance to the Sea of Trees.

"We did it… We captured all of the Mist's summon eagles sir!" a soldier informed a higher-ranking officer.

Another soldiers added, "But some of their Shinobi had already entered the Sea of Trees."

"Humph. That's convenient because… They'll probably be eaten by the Flower Insects. But if they don't get eaten and… are lucky enough to capture the Awakening, we'll snatch it from them when they emerge from the Sea of Trees." A general informed the men.

Looking into the distance a group of about 5 men were walking out of the entrance to the forest. A very tall man with a giant sword strapped to his back was leading the group.

The man did not seem to be disturbed by the fact that there was a fairly big group of soldiers waiting for his group.

Standing before the crowd he spoke to the group, his voice not muffled by the bandages that were wrapped around his face. "Forget it! You're wasting your time here. We never found the Awakening. Someone else had already taken it away. Now return our eagles."

The man lifted his huge sword off of his back displaying his monstrous strength.

Horrific screaming soon filled the small clearing, with Naraku standing in the center of the slaughter.

Snarling the Mist commander ordered, "_Stop it, Naraku! _We have our eagles back. Don't waste anymore lives."

The dark haired man glanced at his commander while gouging out a man's eyes with his bare hands. Naraku had a sick and insane smile on his face. "Killing is my life! It's in my blood! Killing is my entertainment! Zabuza… You coward! I WON'T OBEY YOUR ORDER!"

'That…. Monster….' The soldier thought.

**(End the soldier's flashback)**

Kagome stared at the poor soldier as he groaned in agony, shock apparent on her face.

Sasuke looked at Kagome and told her, "Does this shock you? This kind of cruelty is an everyday occurrence here. You mustn't take it too seriously or you'll have a nervous breakdown."

He wanted to sigh when she looked at him curiously; the language barrier was becoming extremely annoying for the Uchiha.

The Doctor suddenly whipped his head around grabbling Sasuke's arm, "Hey, you… Is it true? This man just told me. Did you really cut the leader of the Okami Bandits?"

Sasuke was interrupted before he could answer, as the door to the Doctor's office was slammed open.

Kagome leapt towards a shelf with a small cry, as she was startled badly.

A bossy-looking soldier with buckteeth stood in the doorway with two men behind him. "Are the coffins ready?!" The man shouted loudly as he and his men stomped into the room.

Still shouting the man said, "We're out of here tomorrow morning. We must have carriages ready before we leave. We need them to carry the coffins. Are you just going to leave them on the floor like this?!" The man ordered.

He turned to look at the Doctor, noticing the other people in the room.

Putting up his hands in a placating movement the Doctor explained, "Oh, Commander. I know it's not right to keep them on the floor… But we don't have enough beds."

The bossy Commander ignored the Doctor in favor of pointing a finger at the slightly scowling Uchiha. "WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?"

The villager stepped forward, " They brought in this injured man."

"HUMPH. I see. " The Commander said shortly as he stared at the group. Looking at Miroku he said "You are a traveling merchant..." He turned to stare at Sasuke and Kagome, "A traveling warrior and an island girl, eh? It's a strange combination."

Calling to his two lackeys he shouted, " They look suspicious. Check their personal belongings."

The two lackeys replied in unison, "Yes, Sir!"

Stepping forward the Doctor said, "Wait! You're too harsh on anyone you consider an outsider. Please treat them more gently."

Glaring at the Doctor the man seethed " What? You dare defy the military, you quack? You couldn't save my soldiers, yet you have the audacity to talk back to me?!"

Kagome winced as she coved her ears. This man was painfully loud!

A hand over his mouth suddenly muffled the man. Sasuke had appeared behind the man glaring harshly.

"Could you please be quiet?" the Uchiha ground out calmly.

"Look over at the bed over there." He ordered the Commander and his lackeys, "He's one of your men, isn't he? He's badly wounded. Your shouting must be tormenting him."

The two lackeys glanced over at the injured man.

Speaking slowly Sasuke told the men, "We have no intention of defying you. Our belongings are outside. Check them as much as you like."

Releasing the commander Sasuke stepped out of the door as if to wait by the cart while the men looked. His bangs covered his eyes as he let out a soft sigh.

All of the lit lanterns on the street were suddenly extinguished.

The Commander and his men walked out of the office, confused.

"It's pitch dark. Don't they light the street lamps after dark in this town?" The Commander snarled.

"Strange…" one of the lackeys stated. The other lackey said, " They were lit when we arrived, Sir."

Sasuke smirked to himself as he moved soundlessly in the dark, grabbing something out of his bag.

"Hey, Doc! We need a lamp here! Order the people to light their street lamps!" The Commander howled, "Where's that stranger?"

"Here." Sasuke said coolly as he stood slightly behind the man, with a bored expression on his face.

"_WHOA!_" the Commander jumped, not realizing Sasuke had been there.

In an attempt to regain his dignity the man shouted, "Idiot! Don't scare me like that!"

Kagome looked at the wagon from the doorframe, a worried expression on her face. '~What should I do? They're checking our stuff. My things are in Sasuke's bag!~'

Looking at Sasuke's back she watched as he turned his head to face her. He gave her a small smug grin, before turning back around.

Arching an eyebrow she wondered '~What was with that grin?~'

Miroku leaned up slightly asking the Doctor, "Why are they treating us like this? We're just travelers."

The Doctor replied, "I know… But I heard that the Awakening appeared in the Sea of Trees."

Miroku looked shocked, "The _Awakening_?"

The Doctor nodded before motioning for Miroku to lie back down, "Someone already captured it and disappeared. The soldiers are searching for them. Our seers have been predicting for generations that this was going to happen. Now it finally has. The Awakening who will awaken us… Has arrived in our world. I never thought it would happen in my lifetime…" he said ominously, "But… Nobody, no matter how wise can tell us what the Awakening looks like."

///////////////

" That's right, Sir. I can't see the Awakening because the air is so disturbed that I can't foresee things." A little girl with long black hair and brown eyes said shyly to a retainer who stood before the Mizukage who was sitting behind a screen.

The retainer smirked, "Your daughter talks like a full-fledged seer though she's just a tiny girl. Don't you think so Momochi, Zabuza?"

Zabuza placed a hand on his daughter's head, as she held onto his leg, her head barely reaching his knee. He narrowed his eyes slightly at the retainer.

"Now tell me why you couldn't find the Awakening, and how you could come home empty-handed without feeling ashamed. I want you to explain that to Mizukage-sama."

The retainer ordered the tall man.

"The repellant oil that we put on our skin was enough to repel the Flower Insects, but couldn't protect us from the monsters that appear in the Sea of Trees after dark." He stood tall, his gaze never leaving the silhouetted figure behind the screen, "We had very little time left before dark to find the Awakening in that forest. I decided to end our search instead of risking my men's lives."

"Did you hear that Mizukage-sama?! That's why Naraku got disgusted and left our troops. I was the one who recommended Naraku for this mission. My effort was _wasted_!" The retainer ranted to the unmoving Kage.

Unable to take any more insult, Zabuza spoke through clenched teeth, "Excuse me, _Sir._ … But I don't think that pressing foreword without a strategy would have helped us. There are things far worse than _Flower Insects_ in that forest. If you want to march in there looking for the Awakening after dark, be my guest."

The retainer turned around red-faced with anger, "Talking back to me again? You always_, always, ALWAYS,_ do that to me!"

A smooth voice from behind the screen stopped the retainer's rant "Calm down."

"Oh, sorry my Lord. I got carried away."

The figure behind the screen shifted a bit, turning his attention to Zabuza, "So… Where did the Awakening go, Zabuza?"

"We don't know yet. We have very little information. In the meantime I've sent my men to search the towns close to the forest to investigate." He told his leader in a detached voice.

The figure stood behind the screen turning to look at the little girl. Sensing she was being stared at she hid behind her father's legs.

"Your name is Momochi, Haku, correct?" came the voice of the Mizukage.

"I'd heard stories of a blind girl with extraordinary ability as a seer. That's why I asked your father to bring you here."

Zabuza twitched minutely at the word 'blind', but if the Kage had noticed, it didn't show.

"But you don't see where the Awakening is, do you?" He questioned the small girl.

Haku shook her head 'no' before explaining, "All I see are lots of swirling colors, but I can't make anything of it. All that I know for sure is that no country has captured it yet."

"So you're saying the same thing my seers have been saying." The Mizukage said politely. "I wonder who snatched the Awakening away from the Sea of Trees… before anyone could get there."

Zabuza nodded before commenting, " I have no idea, but… there's no doubt in my mind that whoever did it is an excellent warrior. We saw dead Flower Insects in the Sea of Trees. They were hacked into pieces and partially eaten by surviving Flower Insects. Examining the remains, we noted that their skin is so tough that it must have been extremely difficult to cut through with a sword. Trying it out with my own blade, it took me 3 solid strikes to cut the thing. What's more is that we couldn't find a single trace of chakra… So either the person is not a ninja or a pretty damn good one. One of my men, Naraku, seemed very upset to see that. It seemed to hurt his pride."

The figure behind the screen shifted a bit before inquiring, "That's the name you mentioned earlier, right? I've never met him, so describe him to me."

Complying with the Kage's wish Zabuza spoke, "He is… Full of self confidence because of his great skill, and he's sure no one can defeat him. I've never personally fought with the man, but I am told that he is incredible with jutsus and is a decent swordsman. But when he was placed on my squad for this mission, I noticed something. The man is obsessed. Obsessed by anyone who he thinks might be stronger than him. He was furious when I refused to fight with him when we first met."

The Mizukage was silent a moment before dismissing the two Momochis.

Bowing slightly to the figure behind the screen, Zabuza quickly grabbed Haku's hand before leading her out.

When Zabuza left the Mizukage turned to his retainer before asking, "You said it was you who discovered Naraku?"

Nodding the retainer told his lord, " Yes, I found him on a small island off of the Snow Country's coast. I was impressed by his large amount of chakra. Not only that, he was a great sword fighter. And he had large potential in Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu, too. He was a bodyguard for an important man on the island, but he seemed bored with it. When I asked if he wanted to join us, he agreed immediately."

The Mizukage sat back down on his cushion. The retainer could imagine the smirk that was surely donning his Lord's face behind the screen.

"Sounds like an interesting man… I would love to meet him." The Mizukage purred in a polite, yet dangerous voice.

///////////

"I'm not comfortable around the Mizukage-sama." Haku told her father as they walked down a flight of stairs, heading for the entrance of the Mizukage's mansion.

Watching Haku carefully, making sure she didn't miss a step Zabuza asked, "Why?"

"He's polite but he scares me. If I go near him, I start trembling." She said as she stared blankly ahead.

"I see… Well, the Mizukage-sama does always have that intimidating aura about him, after all he was once a ninja too. Maybe you were overwhelmed by the silent killing intent he radiates, Haku."

Looking up she smiled at her father slightly, "I don't know…"

'Afterall, Daddy you always have a killing intent about you. But the Mizukage-sama's aura is just… dark…'

The little girl thought to herself.

"But that retainer doesn't scare me at all… But I don't like him because he's mean and says nasty things to you, Daddy."

She felt the steps end as her feet met the smooth tile floor.

Zabuza looked down at his daughter, truth be told he was still new to the whole 'parenting' thing. He hadn't even known his daughter existed until almost a year ago.

Smiling slightly he reached down and ruffled her hair, "Haku… I'm sorry that you had a bad time because of me."

"Don't worry about it, Daddy…" The little girl said before glomping onto his leg, "I was happy to come here with you… 'cause you're never home and I have to stay with Grandma." She said cheerfully as she sat on her father's foot, wrapping her arms and legs around his leg, hanging off of him like a little monkey as he continued walking.

Zabuza dragged his leg along, pretending that she weighed too much to move his leg, earning a giggle from the kid.

"Haku, I've told you not to hold onto my leg like that. I can't walk if you do that."

"Nope, I won't stop!" She declared, hugging his leg tighter.

He had temporarily resigned from the 7 swordsmen of the Mist to become a hunternin…

For Haku's sake, he needed the money he could get from bounties so that he could cure her eyes. He needed to buy a passport into Konohagakure as well as money to pay for the medical expenses among other things. Lord knows that he would need a fortune, Konoha only let a few ninja from outside their village in nowadays, and with his track record and reputation it would be damn near impossible to get approval to enter. Konoha was the best place for his little girl though, as it was the only hidden village with numerous clans with eye-bloodlimits, thus they had the medical specialists who dealt with eyes.

Contrary to the popular belief that his little girl was blind, Haku _could_ see some. She could tell if it was light or dark and could see large blurs of color.  
He looked down at her, staring at the nearly unnoticeable scar running horizontally across her face, straight through her eyes. That was where the man that Haku had believed was her father back when her mother was alive, cut her. By all logic, she shouldn't have eyes at all, because the knife had slashed them through. He wondered if it was because of Haku's bloodline that she had inherited from her mother, or if it had been something else. But all that mattered was that hopefully she would be able to see once again.

Not for the first time, he wondered if he was doing the right thing. He hated having to leave Haku with her 'Grandmother' all the time. The old lady that Haku called Grandma wasn't really related to them, she was their next-door neighbor who had no grandchildren of her own.

Haku loved her Grandmother, but he knew that she was lonely…

He had not really been up to this last assignment… Which is probably why he didn't chase after the Awakening.

Bending down he pried Haku from his leg, before tossing her up in the air and catching her. He had changed so much since he found Haku… he didn't know if he still deserved to be called 'Zabuza Demon of the Mist'…

'What will happen if the Sky Demon comes back? They say those who awake the Sky Demon will be able to control it.' He thought as he exited the Mizukage's mansion, looking up at the full moon. He could feel Haku falling asleep on his shoulder.

'The Sky Demon is a combination off all the dark forces combined. Even more powerful than all of the Biju put together… I guess the Sky Demon is far more horrible than any man or monster.'

**Okay, I'm stopping here, for now! Hmm... the site keeps messing up my spacing, so I apologize if you had a hard time read this...**

**I'm gonna be evil and leave you here for now!**

**Honestly, I would appreciate a few more reviews. I think at the ****very least**** 5 reviews would be ok. Considering the lengths of my chapters, I think 5 reviews is a fair trade-off…**

**Anyways, if you were one of the 9 people who reviewed (a few of you gave me more than one!) Thank you! Your encouragement is what stoked my soul into typing up this chapter! So give yourselves a pat on the back!**

**Yosh! The flames of your YOUTHFUL encouragement warmed my heart!**


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